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HIGH-PERFORMANCE SOUND & VISION 



B&W 700 Series 
Hitachi 75in TV 
NADT777V3 
Atmos receiver 
LG UP970 4K 
Blu-ray player 
Denon X8500H 
AV amplifier 


EXTREME EXCELLENCE 



Sony’s XF9005 TV promises premium 
4K HDR pictures - and delivers! 

Bigscreen 
bargain 

Vivitek aims 
high with 
HK2288 PJ 

Form a Q 

Is Samsung’s 
65in Q9F an 
OLED killer? 




°483S? 


vivitek 4c 


m SURROUND 
RECEIVER 


BIG IN 2018! 


FILM & TV M 

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI 
JUSTICE LEAGUE ■ FAR CRY 5 
OUTLANDER BRITANNIA 
1JHE SHAPE OF WATER W 


The best of this 
^year’s Summer 
^Ibckbusters, p21 


Inside buyer’s guide -» reader’s system -> kef reference in-wall 

COLLECTING... BEST PICTURE WINNERS -» PRO CINEMA INSTALL ♦ B&O OLED 


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M 1 ISSUE 285 MAY 2018 £4.99 

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OPINION 


HOME 

CINEMA 

Choice 


www.homecinemachoice.com 

EDITORIAL TEAM 

Editor Mark Craven 

mark.craven@homecinemachoice.com 
Deputy Editor Anton van Beek 
anton.vanbeek@homecinemachoice.com 
Art Editor John Rook 
CONTRIBUTORS 

Steve May, John Archer, Tekura Maeva, Jon Thompson, 

Ed Selley, Rik Henderson, Richard Stevenson, Vincent Teoh, 
David Vivian 

Photography Mike Prior 

ADVERTISING 

Advertising Sales Executives 

Sonia Smart 

E-mail: sonia.smart@hifinews.com 
Mob: 07972117331 
Richard Morris 
Mob: 07834 346461 

E-mail: richard.morris@homecinemachoice.com 

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REST OF WORLD: New, Renewals and Enquiries 

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BACK ISSUES 

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MANAGEMENTTEAM 

Group Editor Paul Miller, paul.miller@avtechmedia.co.uk 

Group Sales Manager Sonia Smart 

Subscriptions Manager Kate Hall 

Chief Executive Owen Davies 

Published by AVTech Media Ltd 

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Home Cinema Choice, ISSN 1359-6276, is published monthly with an additional 
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Welcome 


How many speakers does your home cinema setup 
have? I'm sure if I'd asked that question a decade ago 
the answer would have most likely been 'five', or 
maybe 'seven'. Fast-forward to 2018 and we're 
auditioning a Denon AV amplifier (see page 52) that suggests 
you might want to pepper your listening room with 13 speakers. 



I can see the attraction. The Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 
formats have opened a new world of immersive 

surround sound, where additional speakers can be put to 
good use to cocoon you in a thrilling aural bubble. 


But I also love 'vanilla' 5.1 audio, and this issue's 700 Series 
system from Bowers & Wilkins (see page 48) is a fine example 
of such a soundscape writ large. And deep. And detailed. And 
rich. It's not a budget package by any stretch, nor designed for a 
'regular' living space, but is proof that you don't always need 

more of everything... 

Editor 



MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 



























ISSUE 285 MAY 2018 



MENU 



CONTRIBUTORS 


a John Archer: 

The experienced 
TV tester cut his 
teeth as an early 
HCC staffer 

Jon Thompson: 

Film producer and 
post-production 
expert delves into 
Hollywood and AV 






Steve May: 

HCC’s former Ed. 
is one of the UK’s 
most respected 
AV journos 



Martin Pipe: 

Technical expert 
Martin is renown 
throughout the 
industry 

Richard 

Stevenson: 

Former Editor of 
the UK CE trade 
journal ERT 



Ed Selley: 

Audiophile Ed 
mixes his home 
cinema passion 
with a love of vinyl 



Vincent Teoh: 

Professional video 
calibrator writes 
about technology 
and tweaking 


FEATURES 

In-depth interviews and special reports. 
Starts... p21 

COVER STORY 

21 Summer lovin' 

From superheroes to giant sharks, meet this 
year's must-see blockbuster movies 

28 Poetry in motion 

Everything you need to know about your 
TV's frame interpolation tech 

34 Room reborn 

Careful planning ensures this movie room 
gets the best out of its state-of-the-art kit 

86 Certified: AV-Holic 

Another HCC reader shows off their system 


SEIECT 

The place to look if you’re planning to buy 
some new AV gear. Starts... pill 

in Gear guide 

HCC's comprehensive Top 10s list 
only the very best kit money can buy 


BUllETIH 

The place for hot products, trends 
and technology. Starts... p7 

07 For your Reference 

KEF's high-end in-wall speaker breaks free 

08 B&O goes back to nature 

OLED flatscreen gets a style revamp 

09 Sky relaunches VR app 

David Attenborough fronts ambitious project 

io Samsung targets cinema 

World's first Cinema LED screen debuts 

12 A super day out for fans 

Exhibition explores DC's iconic superheroes 

14 The show must go on... 

The Greatest Showman sings on 4K Blu-ray 

16 Back of the'net 

Trailers and tech to check out on the web 

18 Sony tunes 4K HDR in 2018 

Japanese giant reveals the calibration secrets 
behind its latest flatscreen lineup 


RE6UIARS 

Whether you want our opinions or your 
own, here’s where to look. Starts... p75 

75 Digital Copy 

Mark Craven would still rather shop with his 
eyes and ears than a mouse and keyboard 

76 Film Fanatic 

When did it all go wrong for the Oscars? 

78 In the Mix 

Jon Thompson wonders if HDR is already 
bringing about the end of OLED 

82Feedback 

Share your thoughts with other AV addicts 

122 AV Avenger 

Steve May celebrates an initiative to stop 
mobile phone use in cinemas 


COHPETITIORS 

85 Great Blu-rays to be won! 

Buck Rogers, Nightmares, Amazon Women on 
the Moon, Rawhead Rex and Molly's Game! 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 



























SUBSCR Sign up to the world’s best 
to save money and never miss 


KWfK 


40 

'Sony's panel 
exhibits ful 
detail in all 
lg mod 


With a focus on performance, these are in-depth tests you can trust... p39 


The latest Blu-rays, DVDs and videogames 
reviewed and rated. Starts... p91 


COVERSTORY 

40 Sony KD-55XF9005 

Direct-lit 4K HDR LED flatscreen delivers on its 
promise of premium picture quality 

44 NAD T 777 V3 

Seven-channel Dirac EQ AV receiver with 
a lean, mean sound 

48 Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series 5.1 

Heavy-hitting speaker array doesn't hold back 
when it comes to delivering the goods 

52 Denon AVC-X8500H 

Feature-packed AV amp cranks immersive 
audio up to 11 (well, 13 actually...) 

COVER STORY 

56VivitekHK2288 

Projector brand shakes up the 4K HDR market 
with this mid-priced marvel 

COVERSTORY 

60 Samsung QE65Q9FN 

Range-topping 4K flatscreen reminds us just 
how good LED TVs can be 



64 LGUP970 

Bargain-priced Ultra HD Blu-ray player gets 
a long overdue Dolby Vision upgrade 

65 Hitachi 75HL16T64U 

This 4K HDR TV offers a monster 75in image 
for not a lot of money 

66 Cello C32277T2 

Is this battery-powered 32in 720p set the 
ideal camping accessory for AV-hedz? 

66 Airpulse Audio A200 

Tired of the familiar wireless suspects? Try 
these studio-style active speakers instead 

72 Long-term test: 

Focal Sib Evo Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 

Compact speaker system still offers an ideal 
Atmos upgrade route for sub/sat owners 


The Shape of Water [4K] 

Three Billboards... [4K]; The Snowman, 
Ferdinand; Pitch Perfect 3 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi [4K] 

Far Cry 5; Britannia: Season 1; Outlander: 
Season 3; Amazon Women on the Moon 

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 

Earth: One Amazing Day [4K]; Heimat; 

The Awful Truth; Otley; Breathless 

^ Justice League [4K] 

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The 
Complete Series; The Beast from 20,000 
Fathoms; Damnation Alley; The Valley of 
Gwangi; Murder on the Orient Express [4K] 

W Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - 2-Movie 
Collection [4K] 

H Jarman: Volume One 1972-1986; The 
Avengers: Tunnel of Fear; JoJo's Bizarre 
Adventure: Season 1; Blood Harvest; 

[ Slaughterhouse Rock 

0 Blade of the Immortal; Legend of the 

Mountain; One-Armed Swordsman; 

The Final Master 

106^ Best Picture winners 
We round up 20 of the best films to win 
the top prize at the Academy Awards 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 

































EISA \ 

EUROPEAN IMAGING AND * 
SOUND ASSOCIATION 

The 

* * 

* * 

** ** 

* * * * * 


GLOBAL 



HOME THEATRE AUDIO 


The European Imaging and Sound Association is the unique collaboration of 55 member 
magazines and websites from 25 countries, specialising in all aspects of consumer electronics 
from mobile devices, home theatre display and audio products, photography, hi-fi and in-car 
entertainment. Now truly international with members in Australia and the USA, and still growing, 
the EISA Awards and official logo are your guide to the best in global tech! 


TECHNOLOGY 


mvvmRDS 

Celebrating the best life-enhancing, 


— I 


:= i _ 




TESTED BY THE EXPERTS ■ WWW.EISA.EU 












WWW.HOMECINEMACHOICE.COM 


BULLETIH 

-►News HIGHLIGHTS OPTOMA Budget beamer targets 1080p cinephiies 
B&O OLED TV gets a retro revamp DC HEROES Comic book king takes up London residence 
SKY Sir David Attenborough boosts VR plans WEBWATCH Trailers and tech NEWS X10 AV stories 
in bite-sized chunks THE GREATEST SHOWMAN Plan your Blu-ray singalong & MORE! 


For your Reference 

KEF Ci5160REF-THX«» www.kef.com 



The G5160REF-THX mounts 
to a depth of 99mm 


KEF has added an in-wall speaker to its Reference 
range, featuring drivers especially designed for its 
flush-fit form factor. Dubbed the Q5160REF-THX 
(and THX Ultra certified), the metre-long speaker 
uses a quartet of 6.25in woofers and a single Uni-Q 
unit, fed by 'high-grade' crossover networks claiming 
a smooth response with minimal distortion. Priced at 
£7,500, each model comes with a certificate signed 
by the audio craftsman who built it - order one now 
and it'll be ready in a couple of weeks... 


The grille is a style match for the rest 
of KEF's Ci speaker lineup 


HCC ONLINE... 


For breaking AV news, blogs, features and 
reviews visit 
Follow us on Twitter 
Like us on Facebook 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 











9 B&O BEOVISION ECLIPSE/SKY VR 



Bang & Olufsen claims its latest 
designer OLED 'brings a totally unique 
dimension to the television landscape 1 by matching 
its slim bezel aesthetic with a handmade oak 
speaker panel - retro-fashionistas will need to 
find £8,200 for the 55in set, £11,500 for the 65in 
version, or £900 to add the wood trim to an existing 
BeoVision Eclipse TV. As with earlier models, the 
4K screen (plus WebOS smarts and Dolby Vision- 
capable image processing) come via LG. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 






















Elipson plays the music 

I Elipson is shipping 
the latest edition 
of its Music Centre 
- dubbed the Black 
Edition - with 
a Chromecast 
Audio dongle to complement its aptX 
Bluetooth streaming feature and physical 
analogue and digital inputs. This black 
satin-finished cylindrical system hub also 
integrates a 2 x 120W ICE power amplifier 
stage to drive partnering speakers (plus a 
subwoofer output with adjustable low-pass 
filter), and a CD player and DAB/FM tuner. 
Pricing is around £900. 
www.elipson.com/en 


Put a projector in your pocket 

Weighing just 750g 
and measuring 18cm 
wide, Vivitek's Qumi 
038 claims to offer 
'the largest projection 
display size yet in 
1080p resolution 1 for a projector of its size 
- namely an image that can hit 130in from 
a 3.5m throw - plus an LED lamp-life 
rating of 30,000 hours. Available for around 
£600, this pocket PJ features a single HDMI 
input, dual USB ports, and wireless hookup 
to mirror smart devices and PCs/Macs. 
On-the-go use is aided by an onboard 
two-hour-rated battery. 
www.vivitek.eu 



ourm 


Sky relaunches VR app 

Sir David Attenborough enlisted for a virtual night at the museum 



Sky is rebooting its VR app this Spring and has 
enlisted Sir David Attenborough for its most 
ambitious project yet. Hold The World, produced 
in partnership with the Natural History Museum, 
invites VR viewers to take a closer look at some of 
the museum's most popular exhibits, including a 
blue whale, stegosaurus, trilobite and pterosaur, 
with Sir David as their personal guide. 

Sky CEO Stephen van Rooyen says the project 
puts his company at the 'leading edge' of VR 
technologies. 'This is a brand-new experience.' 

Once users enter the VR museum, they can 
choose a route to the Conservation Centre, the Earth 
Sciences Library or the Cryptogamic Herbarium. 

In each Sir David is on hand to relate in-depth info. 
Once a full examination has taken place, the object 
'comes to life.' The average VR experience typically 
lasts between 20 minutes and an hour. 

HCC tried the 
VR experience on 
Oculus Rift, and 
enjoyed both the 
resolution of the 
image, and the 


level of interaction offered. You can expand or 
contract objects virtually in size, spinning them 
around for a detailed look in ways that are simply 
not possible in the real world. 

For the experience, developers Factory 42 created 
a photorealistic 'behind-the-scenes' in which VR 
users can venture deep into the museum to discover 
exhibits. The museum's CT scanning department 
was responsible for creating the scientifically 
accurate models and animation. 

The virtual Attenborough, meanwhile, was 
created at Microsoft HQ and required more than 
100 cameras to photograph him from every angle. 
Hair is a problem for volumetric capture, he reveals. 

'I had to spray down every wisp, else there would 
have been a hole in my head.' 

Attenborough has long pioneered new broadcast 
technologies, from introducing colour TV as controller 
of BBC2 and pioneering programme content in HD, 

3D and 4K. 

VR for VIPs 

Hold the World is Sky VR Studio's first fully- 
interactive production and will be available to Sky 
customers when the Sky VR app is relaunched as 
part of the broadcaster's new Sky VIP customer 
loyalty programme. The experience will be available 
on Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR and Google 
Daydream, but not PlayStation VR. 

Sky says it will follow with new VR content on 
a monthly basis across different genres. Upcoming 
experiences will focus heavily on sport, including 
football action and a ringside encounter featuring 
Anthony Joshua. There will also be a VR behind-the- 
scenes special for Britannia (see p96), and a fully 
narrative VR episode of Italian drama Gomorrah, 
written especially for the technology. 

Attenborough has pioneered HD, 3D, 4K and now VR 


BULLETIN 9 



Playful biopic dealing with the 
unconventional love life of the 
man who created Wonder Woman. 

Goodbye Christopher 
Robin (All-region BD) 


(R2DVD) 


Dogs 

(Region BBD) 


The UK Blu-ray debut of this 
enjoyably silly 1976 revenge-of- 
nature flick is thankfully no dog... 


Matt Schrader's documentary 
charts the development of the 
modern movie score over the 
decades. Fascinating stuff. 


Professor Marston and 
the Wonder Women 
(R2DVD) 


A tough watch made all the more 
bearable by the superb 1080p 
encode it receives on Blu-ray. 


Team HCC spins up its disc 
picks of the month 

Thor: Ragnarok 
(Ultra HD Blu-ray) 

While we may have some 
concerns regarding the 
Atmos mix, there's still 
plenty to savour about 
this visually spectacular 
and extremely funny 
Marvel sequel in 4K. 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 














10 SAMSUNG CINEMA LED/BENQ TK800 


Heading out to see a flick? 
Catch these this month 


Avengers: Infinity War 



April 26: A decade of Marvel 
Studios movies has been leading 
to this: the biggest and most 
spectacular superhero film ever 
made. Turn to p22 to find out why 
we're so excited... 

The Strangers: 

Prey at Night 

May 04: Mad Men's Christina 
Hendricks stars in (and Johannes 
Roberts directs) this belated 
sequel to the 2008 home invasion 
horror flick, which finds the 
masked maniacs stalking a family 
at a secluded trailer park. 

How to Talk to Girls 
at Parties 



May 11: Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp 
and Nicole Kidman appear in this 
sci-fi comedy (based on a Neil 
Gaiman short story) about an 
alien visitor who learns about 
teenage love during a visit to 
London in the 1970s. 



sihrcfly svl 
l2 Difi2 Dia 


Samsung targets cinema 


Mega LED screen debuts in Switzerland, put!'projector out of a job 


A cinema in Zurich has become the first in the 
world to officially install a Samsung Cinema LED 
screen, news that has the Korean corp boldly 
claiming: 'The movie screen and traditional 
projection technology are a thing of the past.' 

Samsung's next-gen cinema display features 
24million LEDs, using a modular construction to fill 
an area measuring 10.2m wide and 5.4m high. 

While in essence a giant TV, it's certified by the 
DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) and delivers a 4,096 x 
2,160 4K resolution. 

Exit light 

The benefits of this projector-less approach are 
numerous, believes Samsung. An absence of light 
reflections enables 'pitch dark 1 theatres, in addition 
to 'true' blacks on screen. Switching between aspect 
ratios is achievable without masking technologies. 

Cinema LED also delivers 'unprecedented 
colour brilliance, luminosity and sharpness,' says 
the company. The screen's extreme contrast 
makes it a suitable partner for HDR, with its LED 
illumination delivering a brightness of 146fL 
(approximately 500 nits), around 10 times that 
of a conventional projector-based theatre. 

3D playback is also on tap. 


The screen is also designed for 24/7 operation 
and prepared for 'secondary uses', says 
Samsung, allowing cinema owners to explore 
new revenue models. 

Another benefit of removing a projector from 
a cinema is the scope to rethink interior design, 
now that there's no pesky light beam to contend 
with. 'We have removed the complete furnishings, 
implemented an innovative seating concept and 
consequently are providing the audience with the 
ultimate cinematic experience,' says Edi Stockli, 
owner of Zurich's Arena Cinemas Sihlcity where the 
screen has been put into action. (If you find yourself 
nearby and fancy checking it out, book a ticket for 
Screen 5). 

Partnering the Cinema LED screen is JBL's new 
Sculpted Surround system, which aims to deliver 
a greater sweetspot. JBL, a division of Harman, 
is now owned by Samsung. 

Says Daniel Perisset, Samsung Electronics 
Switzerland: '[We] always try to go the hilt and 
advance technological progress to make life easier 
for people and enrich their lives. We have once again 
succeeded in doing this with the new Cinema LED 
Screen. We're already looking forward to the use 
of the screens in other movie theatres.' 


Cutting the cost of 4K projection 

BenQ's TK800 beamer goes on sale at a wallet-friendly £1,200 


The arrival of Texas Instruments' 4K DLP solution 
was always tipped to dramatically lower the 
entry price of UHD home cinema projection. 
BenQ's TK800, available now for £1,200, is proof 
that such claims weren't wide of the mark. 

Compact at 35cm wide and given a funky blue 
face plate, this affordable 4K DLP PJ is very much 
designed for use in everyday living rooms. A 3,000 
Lumens brightness rating, suggests BenQ, makes 
it ideal for sports viewing in well-lit environments 
- and there's even a Football Mode viewing preset. 

The projector's 1.2x optical zoom leads to a 
fairly short 1.47-1.76:1 throw ratio, with a lOOin 


a 12V trigger, twin HDMIs 
(one compatible with 4K 
HDR sources) and audio 
in/outs tied to the unit's 
CinemaMaster Audio+ 2 
in-built speaker system. 
www.benq.co.uk 



image possible from a distance of 
3.25m. Automatic keystone correction 
is supplied to align bigscreen 
images, in place of vertical 
lens-shift functionality. 

Connections include 


The TK800 is BenQ's most affordable 
4K projector yet 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 









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Home Cinema Rooms 



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O Visit our Tonbridge 
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By appointment only 







DAWN OF SUPER HEROES EXHIBITION/NEWS XI0 


Small items that could 
make a big impression... 


A super day out for fans 

New 02 exhibition explores DC's iconic heroes on both page and screen 


Alien Queen Wall 
Sculpture 

Give your 
movie 
den an 
Aliens -style 
makeover 
with this 
life-size 
wall 

sculpture of the Alien Queen from 
Hollywood Collectibles Group. 
Priced around $1,600(1), the 
hand-painted 'museum quality' 
sculpture is constructed from 
fibreglass and mixed media. 

An alternate version with an 
interchangeable extended 
inner jaw is also available. 

Stormtrooper 
Wireframe Light 

Imperial 
Storm- 
troopers 
maybe 
associated 
with the 
Dark Side, 
but that 
doesn't stop them from lighting 
up your cinema room. This USB- 
powered, Trompe L'oeil effect 2D 
etched acrylic light is based on the 
original movie helmets created 
in 1976 by prop master Andrew 
Ainsworth (whose signature is 
printed on the base). Grab one 
from TheFowndry.com for £25. 

Jurassic Park Gates 

To mark 
the 25th 
anniversary 
of Jurassic 





Park, US 
toy and 
collectible 
maker 

Factory Entertainment will be 
releasing a detailed polystone 
reproduction of the film's iconic 
gates and park vehicle. The limited 
edition sculpture stands llin tall 
and features battery-powered 
illuminated flickering torches. 
While it won't be available until 


later this year, you can pre-order 
one now for $250. 



From the gleaming cityscapes of Metropolis to the 
beaches of Themyscira, via an overnight stay in 
crime-ridden Gotham, the new DC Exhibition: Dawn 
of Super Heroes offers a whistle-stop tour of the 
DC universe. Mingling film props and costumes 
with comic art, the show has begun a six-month 
residency at The 02, London. HCC donned a cape 
and cowl and took a closer look... 

A co-production between DC Entertainment and 
Art Ludique-Le Musee, the exhibition is rich in heroic 
detail. With 45 original costumes and props, 300 
or so concept sketches and more than 200 pages 
of original comic art, there's no shortage of spandex 
to revel in. 

After the gauntlet of merch, visitors are ushered 
through a predictable chronological warren. Our 
advice is walk slowly, else you might miss some 
gems. A running loop of vintage Max Fleischer 
Superman animation reveals influences on Hayao 
Miyazaki, while superhero fashionistas will want to 
savour Christopher Reeve's cape and Lynda Carter's 
Wonder Woman bathers. 


Bat's entertainment 

The Batcave offers perhaps the widest variety 
of exhibits. Fans can inspect costumes worn in the 
Tim Burton Batman movies (for what it's worth, 
Penguin's suit appears to have aged rather better 
than Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman outfit) and 
gawp at the artistry of Anton Furst's original concept 
art for 1989's Batman. 

And if you've ever wondered 
just how awesome the full-size 
Batpod from The Dark Knight Rises 
is close up, then this is the place 
to find out. 

There's a lot of context on offer. 

Video clips document the DCU 
throughout, and there's specific 
narration via little audio paddles. 

There's so much to digest, in fact, 
that HCC went through twice. 

Reading and watching first time 
around, and then listening to the 
narration second time. 

Much will be familiar to comic 
die-hards, but there are also 
items we've never seen before, 
such as early concept sketches 
for Tim Burton's aborted 
Superman Lives, the movie 
set to star Nicholas Cage as 
a tousled-hair version of the 
Last Son of Krypton. 

The DC Exhibition also 
acknowledges the impact the 
publisher's iconic characters 
had on Sixties pop culture, with 
references to Andy Warhol, 


Roy Lichtenstein and, of course, the classic 1960s 
Batman TV series. 


The real treasure 

Curator Jean-Jacques Launier was given full access 
to the Warner Bros archive for the exhibition. 'Many 
of these props and artefacts are priceless. Some of 
the sketches, like the first ever Joker sketch, would be 
worth millions,' he says. 

He's not wrong. The real treasure here is the art. 
Around every corner is an iconic cover in its raw 
pencil and ink form, sourced from private collections 
and dealers, or a comic page depicting hand-drawn 
visceral action. 

The fine-art style of Neal Adams, be it in his 
Superman vs. Muhammad Ali pencils or legendary 
Green Lantern/Green Arrow covers, is a joy to behold. 
The photorealistic painting style of Alex Ross is 
similarly beautiful, and the opportunity to see the 
clean, classic original lines of Curt Swan's Superman, 
juxtaposed against the raw, scratchy style of a young 
Frank Miller's Dark Knight, will be worth the price of 
admission alone for many. Make the effort to seek 
out Jack Kirby too. Comic art doesn't get much better 
than his original cover for Forever People #1. 

Inevitably, the exhibition is heavily skewed to the 
trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. 
But there's a nod to members of the Justice League 
and Suicide Squad, particularly Harley Quinn. 

Whether your interest is in DC's movie franchises, 
or comic book legends Jerry Siegel 
and Joe Shuster, Bob Kane and Bill 
Finger, this exhibition is a pilgrimage 
worth taking. Catch it before it's 
up, up and away. 

DC Exhibition: Dawn of Super 
Heroes runs at the 02 in London until 
September 9. Visit www.dcexhibition. 
co.uk for information and tickets. 


The exhibition covers DC's heroic history 
from the 1930s to the present day 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 




BULLETIN 13 


This month's top 70 news stories in handy, bite-sized chunks... 


I Sony 
slashes 
VR 
costs 

Sony Interactive 
Entertainment 
is dropping the 
price of entry 
to the world 


6 Netflix beats BBC 

The BBC is losing out to Netflix when it 
comes to appealing to younger viewers. 

New research conducted by the broadcaster 
reveals that people aged between 16 and 24 now 
spend more time per week watching Netflix than 
all BBC TV (including iPlayer). It also shows that 
people aged between 16 and 35 spent more time 
listening to streaming music services during the final 
quarter of 2017 than all BBC radio. 



of console- 
powered Virtual 
Reality. As part 
of a global price 
reduction, the 
company has slashed the cost of its PlayStation VR 
Starter Pack (consisting of a VR headset, the 
PlayStation Camera and a download code for 
PlayStation VR Worlds) from £350 to £260 
in the UK. 


7 Sing while you're streaming 

ROXI is a new music streaming service that 
promises to turn your TV into the 'ultimate 
music entertainment hub 1 . The brainchild of 
Electric Jukebox, ROXI differs from more traditional 
streaming services by also providing a karaoke mode 
(a Wii-style microphone controller is provided) and 
an interactive music trivia quiz. Altogether now... 


Making sweet 
music together 

Bowers & Wilkins 
has been named 
the 'official headphone and 
speaker partner' of the iconic 
Abbey Road Studios. As part 
of this partnership, various 
B&W loudspeakers (including 
the flagship 800 D3 
floorstander) will be installed 
throughout the studios. 

Lowering the 'bar 

More slashed prices as Bluesound rewrites 
the ticket on its Pulse Soundbar. Perhaps 
with one eye on the Playbar from multiroom 
rival Sonos, the Pulse Soundbar's price tag has 
dropped from £1,000 to £800 in its standard black 
finish - and lowered to £900 for the white iteration. 

LG embraces DTS VirtuahX 

LG will release the world's first TVs 
with integrated DTS VirtuaLX technology 
this year, beginning in its South Korea 
homeland before rolling out to other territories. 

As yet unspecified models from its 2018 
Ultra HD TV lineup will pack the post-processing 
talents to deliver - it's claimed - believable 
height and surround effects from a conventional 
speaker array. 

X-Men movies delayed 

Twentieth Century Fox appears to be having 
difficulties with its X-Men movie franchise. 
While Deadpool 2 is still on track to hit 
cinemas as planned (see p23), the studio's other 
X-Men films that were due for release this year 
have both been delayed to accommodate reshoots. 
Fellow spin-off New Mutants (originally due this 
month) has been bumped back to August 2019, 
while X-Men: Dark Phoenix has been shuffled back 
from November to next February. 


Playing the 
game in 4K 

It looks like Game 
of Thrones will make 
the jump to Ultra HD Blu-ray 
this Summer. While there's 
no official announcement 
from HBO, Amazon France 
is taking pre-orders for the 
show's first season on UHD 
Blu-ray, and lists a June 4 
release date. Given that HBO 
previously re-released the 
early seasons of the show on Blu-ray with Dolby 
Atmos audio, this seems like the next logical step. 

Icon moves on 

Troubled independent UK distributor Icon 
Film Distribution has finally found a buyer in 
the form of home entertainment specialist 
Kaleidoscope. The purchase includes Icon's library 
of more than 300 films including Apocalypto, Drive, 
Paranormal Activity and The Babadook. 

Stand Alone... together 

Manga Entertainment is bringing the 
acclaimed anime series Ghost in the 
Shell: Stand Alone Complex to Blu-ray 
in June. Priced around £100 and limited to just 1,000 
copies, the Zavvi-exclusive 11-disc boxset collects 
together all 52 episodes of the series, the Laughing 
Man and Individual Eleven OVAs and the Solid State 
Society film, plus an exclusive 140-page book. 











Premiere... 


What's happening in the 
world of TV and films... 



Thor: Ragnarok co-stars Chris 
Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson 
might be teaming up once again 
for yet another comic book movie. 
The duo are in talks to play two of 
the leads in Sony's upcoming Men 
in Black reboot, which will be set in 
the same world as the previous 
films, but involves an all-new bunch 
of characters. Fast & Furious 8 
helmer F. Gary Gray has been 
tapped to direct. 


Grudge re-match 


Men in Black isn't the only film 
series undergoing a reboot at Sony. 
Horror franchise The Grudge is also 
being 'reimagined 1 , with Andrea 
Riseborough, John Cho, Demian 
Bichir and genre stalwart Lin Shaye 
attached to star in the new film. 


Spielberg on Indy 5 


Steven Spielberg has confirmed 
that the fifth Indiana Jones film will 
begin shooting in the UK next April. 
There's no word on what Indy will 
be up against this time - we just 
hope it's not aliens again... 


We asked... 


What is the resolution 
of your main home 
cinema display/ 
screen? 



MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 

















14 DISC PREVIEW 




HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 








ars of the Silver screen 


EW Silver Series 


Surround yourself in sound with the multi-speaker 
Silver Series, perfect for enjoying movies to the full. 





monitoraudio.com 


(flj) MONITOR AUDIO) 






















16 WESTWORLD/OPTOMA 


Face to Face 

Topics of discussion on 
theHCCFacebook page 


Thor: Ragnarok's 
Blu-ray soundmix... 



The sound is so lacklustre! 

Stewart Heed 

I've a feeling it might be to do with 
the film's original soundmix. I saw 
it whilst on holiday in Florida, 
at a Cinemark XD screen, by all 
accounts a fantastic cinema. 

I wasn't too impressed with the 
Dolby Atmos sound - it basically 
adhered to all the criticisms in your 
review. Lack of power, lack of 
actual surround sound... not what 
I'd expect from a big Marvel movie 
on a premium screen! 

Mark Hornsby 

What you're watching 
on your home cinema... 

Good Easter films 
for me! Strangled 
and Psycho III 
Robert Corrigan 

The Spider-Man Trilogy in 4K, 
Justice league in 4K and GoldenEye 
on DTS Laserdisc. 

Mike Wadkins 

The third and fourth Indiana Jones 
films - impressive sound and 
picture from normal BD - plus 
The Mummy 3D, which was 
entertaining action-adventure 
with a monster or two. 

Theo Coetzee 

Nothing - I'm going to see the new 
Tomb Raider in Dolby Atmos. 

Lee Regan 

Pitch Perfect 3 and Jumanji in 4K. 
Steve Smith 

The original Jumanji, on 4K disc f 
or Atmos, and Muse: Live in Rome 
are on my hit-list this weekend. 
Ricky Wilson 

Fast things going round in circles... 
Yes, it's an FI weekend for me in 4K. 
Stefano Pascuzzi 

Join in the fun 

Like our page 
at facebook.com/ 
HomeCinemaChoice 




Back of the 'net 

Trailers, technology and more to check out on the web 



The beasts are back 

Warner is already hyping its Fantastic Beasts... 
sequel (The Crimes ofGrindelwald) in advance of 
its November cinema release, and judged from this 
teaser trailer the studio has given director David 
Yates a massive SFX warchest. Look out for Jude 
Law taking on the role of a young Dumbledore. 
youtu.be/_bUbEu3SlmE 


Cambridge takes audio to the Edge 

This short behind-the-scenes video gives you a 
taste of the craft and time that Cambridge Audio 
has put into its new Edge series, premium slabs 
of hi-fi released to celebrate the company's 
50th anniversary. But could we please have 
a multichannel version? 
youtu.be/3eHCh-05n6E 



The end of the line 

Margot Robbie (pictured) stars in Terminal, an 
independent crime drama due for release in May, 
also starring Dexter Fletcher, Simon Pegg and Mike 
Myers. If that description doesn't float your boat, 
check out this trailer, which suggests it may have 
a unique, neon-infused, noirish vibe. 
youtu.be/AW-NivlFgrQ 



Sound advice 

The first episode in a new series of podcasts from 
Dolby, this runs for over an hour and features 
Skywalker Sound stalwart Randy Thom going 
into detail about movie audio design, the birth of 
surround sound, his own career and plenty more. 
Highly recommended. 
youtu.be/lZn_lsyhxvk 



Saddle up again 

Westworld's first season was one of the best TV 
dramas of recent years, so this follow-on (beginning 
on Sky Atlantic right about now and hitting disc later 
this year), has been hotly anticipated. This teaser is 
exactly that - hinting at what's to come but keeping 
its cards close to its chest. Consider us hooked... 
youtu.be/sjVqDg32_8s 



Puppet masters 

The Critters franchise - a kind of sci-fi-tinged, 
gore-laden version of Gremlins - was notable for 
its brilliant practical effects, none more so than its 
puppet cast of killer aliens. This (very fuzzy) behind- 
the-scenes vid gives you a flavour of how the FX 
team brought them all to life. 
facebook.com/Fangoria/videos/1630317240348104 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 


















BULLETIN 



Bargain hunt 

Optoma HD27e^ www.optoma.co.uk 



The 'e' suffix denotes this DLP 
projector is an evolution of Optoma's 
previous HD27, with the PJ specialist 
claiming improvements to lamp-life, 
running noise and image punch (through 
a 3,400 Lumens rating). Native resolution 
remains 1,920 x 1,080 rather than state- 
of-the-art 4K, but factor in the dual 
HDMI inputs, 12V trigger output, 3D 
playback, powered USB for streaming 
device hookup, neat design and £550 
price tag and you may find you don't 
crave any extra pixels. 


BACKGROUND IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/KOKSHAROV DMITRY 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 



















18 



The AF80LED (above) features the same THERE’S MORE TO Sony’s 4K TVs than meets 
panel and processing as last year's A1 the eye The Japanese major says it’s exploiting 

years of expertise in the broadcast field and 
cinema production to ensure its 2018 TV range 
is a class apart. 

Certainly, looking at the brand’s incoming 
flatscreen lineup, with its premium designs and 
head-turning image quality, it’s difficult to believe 
there was once speculation that Sony would shut 
down its loss-making TV business. But that was 
then, this is now. With a new high-end OLED hero, 
plus a formidable fleet of LED 4K flatscreens, Sony 
is (literally) a brand to watch. HCC was invited to 
Sony Europe’s HQ to peer behind the new panels. 



Sony's XF80 series: entry-level 4K sets 
with an attractive design 


Its. An(other). OLED 

The company's 2018 headliner is the AF8. First 
spotted at CES, this second-generation 4K OLED 
offering takes a more conventional approach to 
design than its A1 predecessor (it no longer leans 
back, for a start), although the set also retains that 
model’s Acoustic Surface audio technology, wherein 
the panel itself produces forward-facing sound 
using vibration rather than conventional stereo 
drivers. However, out goes the powerful subwoofer 
(mounted in the TV's stand) and in come new, 
downsized bass drivers. 


Also retained on the AF8, across both its 55in and 
65in versions, is the Al's panel and XI Extreme image 
processor. This is perhaps an unusual move in a 
world of rapid change, but no bad thing. Fine detail, 
colour depth and near-black performance still 
appear exemplary. 

And, says Gavin McCarron, technical marketing 
manager at Sony Europe, it’s not through 
happenstance. 'We carry out factory calibration 
of luminance and colour to mimic the characteristics 
of our Trimaster mastering monitor. This level 
of calibration can’t be achieved once a panel has 
left the factory. It needs to be done factory-side.' 
Such fine-tuning is done to both OLED and LED 
LCD screens, we're told. 

McCarron concedes that the pre-calibration 
of a studio-grade Trimaster is a little bit more 
time-consuming than a consumer panel, but points 
out that there’s direct correlation between Sony’s 
flagship Ultra HD TVs and a reference Trimaster 
EL monitor, as used in studio colour grading suites 
around the world. 

'We really try to mirror a director’s intent in our 
picture processing,' he says. 'I know there are a lot 
of calibration services, but some things can’t be 
achieved on a finished set. We picked up a lot 
of expertise in our CRT days.' 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 





TECH FOCUS IS 


While the AF8 is born of an 'ain't broke, don't fix it' 
ethos, bigger changes can be found on Sony's LED 
sets, including wider deployment of the high-end 
XI Extreme processor. One beneficiary is the XF90 
(reviewed this issue, p40), which replaces last year’s 
XE90. This comes in the same screen size options 
(49in, 55in, 65in and 75in), but benefits from an 
improved full array LED backlight for greater contrast, 
as well as better processing by moving away from 
the (non-Extreme) XI chipset. 

Sony's silicon doesn’t just analyse any incoming 
signal. It also analyses the characteristics of the 
panel it’s driving. When the processor understands 
the capabilities of the TV’s colour, brightness 
and detail, it can apply more precise and accurate 
dynamic tone mapping, says the brand. 



Living on the edge 

Edge LED illumination is still employed on the XF85, 
which will no doubt be Sony's mass-market hero. 
Fashionistas should note that it’s available in both 
black and silver finishes on its four smaller screen 
sizes (43in, 49in, 55in and 65in), while two larger 
models (75in and 85in) come in black only. 

Mid-range it may be, but the specification is still 
high. Like the XF90, this uses a 100Hz panel, with 
image processing handled by the brand’s workhorse 
XI processor. This means it’s not in line for a Dolby 
Vision upgrade, but does support HDR10 and HLG. 

The real win here, though, remains the brand’s 
object-based HDR remastering. Used to give a faux 
HDR look (exploiting the natural ability of the panel 
and backlight) to all SDR content, the technique 
works well. We’ll be waiting for a sample to see 
just how effective its HDR handling is, but an early 
hands-on has us salivating. 

Another range likely to attract attention is the 
edge-lit XF80 Series, which represents a new entry 
level for Sony UHD. Available at sizes up to 55in, 
this combines stylish looks (the narrow aluminium 
frame and central pedestal stands are attractive) 
with a better-than-budget spec. But there is a 


Sony demo'd its new TV hardware 
at its UK-based European HQ 


Looking for a bigscreen experience? 
Sony's mid-tier XF85 lineup goes all 
the way to 85in 



afld-roidtv. 


sj 


B RAVI A 


caveat - the key difference between the XF80 
and its XF85 stablemate is the use of a lower-cost 
50Hz panel, which impacts motion handling, an 
ongoing challenge for LCD screens. Meanwhile, 
the XF90 range is endowed with Sony's new 
X-Motion Clarity, which uses a proprietary algorithm 
to boost LED brightness selectively within an image, 
reducing flicker caused by black frame insertion. 

The result is less motion blur without unwanted 
side effects. (See p28 for more about motion 
smoothing technology). 

All Sony's X-branded TVs are based on the 
Android platform. It’s fair to say that Android isn’t 
the best loved of such systems, but it is getting 
smarter. For a start, Chromecast is built-in, which 
enables a growing number of apps to cast directly 
to the TV. It also now offers hands-free control via 
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant (they were 
demo’d at Sony's HQ with the company's LF-S50G 
Google Assistant speaker for control and search). 
And there’s even the promise of a more intuitive 
and less cluttered user interface down the road 
when Android Oreo is released. 

Once again, Sony is stocking its TVs with YouView 
functionality, enabling full catchup from the UK's big 
four broadcasters, and backwards EPG interaction. 

HDR all over 

Of course, Sony isn’t just about 4K. It continues to 
offer HDR support on some of its Full HD models 
too, (whereas some brands still sell 4K screens 
with no HDR compatibility). However, it says much 
that the company isn’t launching any new 32in 
screens this year, just continuing with existing sets. 
Both the ongoing R series (non-smart) and the WE6 
(smart) are HDR-capable and are seen by Sony 
as screen partners for the HDR-capable base 
PlayStation 4 model. 

What is new for 2018 is the RF4, which is an 
HDR compatible HD TV, albeit non-smart, and the 
step-up WF6, a Freeview Play set in 43in and 50in 
screen sizes. While it doesn’t use the Android OS, 
it does offer a healthy selection of catch-up TV 
services (BBC iPlayer, ITVHub, AU4 and Demand 5) 
plus Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube. 

It even has a basic web browser. As a secondary 
screen, it has a lot going for it - as long as you won't 
miss those extra pixels ■ 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 












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ACOUSTICS 





PLAYBACK EXTRA 21 





MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


2018's blockbuster season is about to get under way. Team HCC 
settles into the front row to pick candidates for the year's biggest film 


THE BIRTH OF the Summer blockbuster began in 
June 1975, when shark thriller Jaws surfed a wave 
of unprecedented pre-release promotion to swallow 
remarkable box office takings of more than $100m. 
Canny marketing by Universal studios, the success 
of Peter Benchley's source material and a wide 
release strategy made it the first true 'event picture'. 
A template had been set. 

In 2018, Hollywood still follows the Jaws rulebook. 
Spend millions on promotion, open big and hope 
the ticker tape comes rolling in. And it's gone global 
too - while Jaws opened during the Christmas 
of 1975 in the UK, modern movies are typically 
released in the same week across domestic and 
international markets. 


What has changed, however, is the notion of the 
'Summer blockbuster'. Summer is getting longer. 

The so-called 'Oscar season' of November/ 
December still exists, and the start of the year 
remains the time for less-fancied genre movies (such 
as the Liam Neeson thriller The Commuter, released 
this January) to have a box office crack. Yet with 
studios focusing ever more on big-budget flicks with 
the aim of billion-dollar turnovers, the traditional 
June/July Summer has become crowded. All those 
tentpoles need space to stand. 

Over the page we reveal the 2018 blockbuster 
slate that crams in aquatic monsters, dinosaur 
wranglers, con artists and more superheroes than 
you ever thought possible... > 


1 \U 












22 SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS 





Avengers: infinity War 


In cinemas: April 26 

Since the release of Iron Man in 2008 and the establishment of the Marvel Cinematic 
Universe, all roads have been leading to this point. The third Avengers film sees the 
beginning of the end for what the studio has referred to as 'Phases' 1,2 and 3, and it 
will wrap up next Summer with another helping of Avengers action. Where does Marvel 
go after that? Not much is known, but maybe don't expect to see Robert Downey Jr 
donning the tin suit again. 

Infinity War promises Marvel fans a conclusion of the long-running Thanos/lnfinity 
Stones plot, a team up between the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the 
studio's winning mix of humour, SFX and mindboggling set-pieces. One challenge is 
whether it can find all of its 30-strong cast enough to do. 

Another challenge concerns the film's eventual BD release, potentially around August. 
Disney's Thor: Ragnarok caused some bafflement thanks to an at-times underpowered 
soundmix - improvement here would be welcome. There's also the possibility the movie's 
all-IMAX digital cinematography (a world's first) will land on 4K Blu-ray with a Dolby 
Vision encode, unless the House of Mouse is reserving that tech for its Star Wars platters. 


Solo: A Star Wars Story 

In cinemas: May 25 

Spin-off movies from the main Star Wars saga didn't 
sound like the greatest idea ever (we all have 
memories of The Scorpion King), but 2016's Rogue 
One proved that the franchise is big enough to veer 
away from its main arc and still deliver what its fans 
want. Next on the spin-off agenda is this Han Solo 
origin story, which casts Alden Ehrenreich as the 
young Millennium Falcon flyer, abetted by his 
Wookiee companion Chewbacca. 

A decision by studio head Kathleen Kennedy to 
replace directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller with 
veteran Ron Howard midway through So/o...'s 
production has set the Hollywood rumour machine 
into overdrive. At the same time, the initial trailer 
led to some (predictable) gnashing of teeth from 
Star Wars stalwarts about Ehrenreich's suitability 
to fill the boots of original Han Solo actor Harrison 
Ford. None of this means the movie itself won't be 
a hit, however. 

When it comes to Solo's home media release, 
the film's 3.4K and 6.5K digital photography (and 
4K digital intermediate) will hopefully filter through 
to a superior Ultra HD Blu-ray release (and separate 
3D outing), and should follow the format set by 
...The LastJedi (see p94) in featuring Dolby Atmos 
audio and Dolby Vision HDR. 

Just don't look out for a warts-and-all Making of... 
documentary. 




HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 









PLAYBACK EXTRA 23 


Deadpool2 



In cinemas: May 15 

Marvel's mutant 'Merc with the Mouth' returns to 
cinemas with another foul-mouthed, ultra-violent, 
fourth-wall-breaking adventure in the latest addition 
to Fox's X-Men franchise. This time around Deadpool 
puts together his own team (which he dubs X-Force) 
to save a young boy from a time-travelling soldier. 

Released back in 2016, the original - and strictly 
adults-only - Deadpool was an unexpected smash 
hit for Fox. It's appeal didn't end on the bigscreen 
either, with the film going on to become one of the 
biggest sellers of the fledgling 4K disc format. 

But for all of its success, there's no getting away 
from the fact that the original film's action scenes 
(whisper it) felt a little cheap by the standards of 
most superhero flicks. Thankfully, it seems Deadpool 
2 won't be content to coast by on its outrageous 
humour, and will be marrying it to some spectacular 
action. The film has a whole new team of 
mutants on tap (who already have their 
own spin-off outing in the works), and Fox 
has drafted in David Leitch to direct, who 
previously helmed Atomic Blonde 
and is one half of the team 
behind John Wick. The 
promise is therefore 
of a sequel that's a 
little more polished - 
and another best¬ 
selling 4K Blu-ray. 



Jurassic World: Fallen 
Kingdom 

In cinemas: June 6 

Jurassic World, the long-awaited fourth instalment 
of the dinosaur franchise, was huge. Brachiosaurus 
huge. The movie, which teamed up Chris Pratt and 
Bryce Dallas Howard as park employees struggling 
to contain a new hybrid dino, stomped its way to 
a massive $1.6bn global box office taking. A sequel 
was never in doubt. 

The first Jurassic World worked so well because 
it finally delivered on the wishes of park owner John 
Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and allowed 
audiences to tour around a full-size, fully operational 
Jurassic Park. This follow-up film won't have that 
same wow factor, so will have to explore other ideas 
to keep us hooked. One of which appears to be 
bringing Jeff Goldblum back for a cameo role. 

Pratt and Howard are also returning. 

Before trooping off to catch Fallen Kingdom at the 
multiplex (in either 2D or 3D), Universal is whetting 
our appetites by releasing the previous four films in 
the franchise on UHD Blu-ray in May - as a 'Trilogy 
Collection' plus Jurassic World as a standalone 
release, or in separate steelbooks as a Zavvi- 
exclusive. At the time of writing there was still no 
official word on disc specifications, but it may be 
that we see soundmixes upgraded to DTS:X. 

Time to get your subwoofer primed... 




Chris Pratt is back in Fallen Kingdom , 
as are CG beasts and gyrospheres 



Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) is the 
catalyst for another high-concept heist 
in Ocean's 8 


Ocean's 8 

In cinemas: June 22 

If the female take on action franchise The 
Expendables - dubbed The Expendabelles, naturally 
- ever gets off the ground, its gender-reverse 
thunder will have been stolen by this spin-off movie 
to Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's franchise. Out go 
George Clooney and his posse of sharp-suited 
tricksters (bar Matt Damon, who returns here 
in a minor role), and in come Sandra Bullock, 

Anne Hathaway, Rhianna, Cate Blanchett, Helena 
Bonham Carter, Dakota Fanning and more to 
make up a new gang of con artists. Soderbergh 
relinquishes director duties to Gary Ross (The 
Hunger Games, Seabiscuit). 

With memories of the original trilogy fading fast 
( Ocean's 73 was released back in 2007), a revisit 
now to the world of glamour and grifting makes 
sense, and Ocean's 8 may well prove the perfect 
antidote to 2018's roster of SFX spectaculars. 

And, as no actual characters are being recast as 
female, it will hopefully avoid the tedious, angry 
criticism levelled at 2016's Ghostbusters. Although 
we can't be certain. 

Warner Bros is handling distribution, which we 
expect will lead to a UK 4K Blu-ray before the end 
of the year. What would be even better is for 
Soderbergh's Ocean's... trilogy to also get a reissue, 
as the existing 1080p BDs are far from the best the 
format has to offer. > 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 







24 SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS 





Further ahead 

More big movies on the 
radar 'til Christmas 2018 


Venom 


Long in gestation, this Spider-Man 
spin-off (confusingly unrelated to 
the Marvel Cinematic Universe) 
finally arrives in cinemas in October. 
Tom Hardy will be growling his 
way through dialogue as the 
titular anti-hero. 


'There's no killing wha 


killing what can't be 
killed,' said King Willie in Predator2, 
a tenet that perhaps explains Fox's 
continued efforts to get its killer 
alien franchise back in theatres. 

At least this time it has an A-list 
director (Shane Black) and original 
producing team Joel Silver and 
Lawrence Gordon onboard. Hunt it 
down in cinemas in September. 


Slcarlo: Day of the 
Soldado 

In cinemas: June 29 

Sicario director Dennis Villeneuve has moved on to 
bigger things ( Blade Runner2049, for one), but this 
perhaps unexpected sequel to the 2015 thriller keeps 
Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro in their roles as 
CIA man Matt Graver and his black ops specialist 
Alejandro. It's hard to imagine either of them signing 
up for a quickly produced cash-in, so the clumsy title 
that evokes awkward memories of straight-to-video 
action sequels is probably a red herring. 

The director's chair is now filled by Stefano 
Sollima, who previously helmed the brilliant Italian 
organised crime series Gomorrah. Sicario writer Taylor 
Sheridan is again on scripting duties, and - judging 
by the trailers - the extraordinary original score has 
also been retained. 

While Sony Pictures is handling North American 
distribution, Lionsgate will bring the flick to the UK. 
Which may mean an Atmos mix across all home 
media releases, and not just Ultra HD Blu-ray. 


Incredlbles2 


In cinemas: July 13 

Given the huge explosion in popularity the superhero 
movie has undergone since the release of Pixar's 
animated smash The Incredibles in 2004, nobody 
is questioning the studio for returning to the well for 
a belated sequel. And the good news is that this is no 
by-the-numbers follow-up. Instead, original writer- 
director Brad Bird returns to continue the story he 
began 14 years ago, exploring gender roles as Mr. 
Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) adjusts to life as a 
stay-at-home dad, while his wife Elastigirl (Holly 
Hunter) gets on with fighting crime. 

With the two Pixar films released on Ultra HD 
Blu-ray to date (Cars 3 and Coco) delivering some 
of the most eye-wateringly beautiful 4K HDR visuals 
to ever grace a home cinema, we're primed for 
Incredibles2 to follow suit. Meanwhile, memories 
of the DTS-HD MA track that graced The Incredibles' 
Blu-ray has us salivating at what this sequel's Dolby 
Atmos mix may unleash. 

Speaking of The Incredibles, rumours abound of 
a 4K release of that film to support the sequel. 


Warner Bros returns to the world of 
Harry Potter in November for 
another prequel written directly 
by J.K Rowling. The first Fantastic 
Beasts was an unbridled joy (and 
made for a great 4K platter) so 
fingers crossed the promise of a 
bigger role for Johnny Depp doesn't 
rip the magic out of this one. 


Deed, the boxing flick that saw 
Sylvester Stallone's Rocky take 
on the role of trainer to upstart 
pugilist Adonis Creed, was a surprise 
critical and commercial hit. We're 
all in favour of another bout, 
especially as Dolph Lundgren is 
reprising his role as Ivan Drago. 


Skyscraper 


In cinemas: July 13 

Since Die Hard, action fans have witnessed countless 
titles riffing on its premise ('It's like Die Hard, but on 
a boat!'). With its one-man-fighting-baddies-in-a- 
tall-building plot, Skyscraper has gone full-circle. 
Presumably the pitch was simply, 'It's Die Hard again.' 

Originality isn't everything, though, and in cast 
leader Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Skyscraper 
has found perhaps the only actor around who can 
convince as both an ordinary working man (in this 
case, a security guard) and an all-guns-blazing hero. 


Neve Campbell, last seen running away from a 
rubber-masked murderer in Scream 4, plays his wife. 

Trailers have teased a popcorn movie with some 
wonderfully over-the-top stuntwork, while director 
Rawson Marshall Thurber has opted to shoot 
digitally on both Arri Alexa XT and Alexa 65 cameras 
- the latter enabling capture at up to 6.5K. 

Converted in post-production to 3D, there's likely 
to be a stereoscopic 3D disc release down the line. 
When it comes to sonics, studio Universal typically 
offers a 3D audio mix (either Atmos or DTS:X) across 
all HD releases. A Dolby Vision 4K platter could 
follow this movie's Dolby Cinema release, too. > 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 



























SOUND R EVOLUTION 


"BASS TO BELIEVE IN" 



• Inlaid front panel display, curved metal grille 

• 1,200W RMS /4,000+ W peak Sledge amplifier 

• 13.5-inch driver: massive dual-ferrite magnet 
motor, edge-wound 8-layer voice coil 

• High Resolution Analog Devices DSP 

• Smartphone control app for iOS® and Android® 

(( What the SB-4000 delivers is almost 
the textbook definition of great home 
cinema bass; deep, clean and fast, 
and easily integrated with your 
chosen speaker system, j j 

HCC April 2018 



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Choice 

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PLAYBACK EXTRA 27 



Ant-Man and The Wasp 


In cinemas: August 3 

This year's final Marvel Studios release is a sequel 
to 2015's Ant-Man and, as evidenced by the title, 
will be making good on that film's post-credits 
tease by allowing Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne 
to step up and join Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in the 
superhero business as The Wasp. 

Set after the events of Captain America: Civil 
War, Ant-Man & The Wasp finds the diminutive 
hero on the run from the law and joining forces 
with Hope and her genius father Hank Pym 
(Michael Douglas). While full details of the plot 
are still subject to Marvel's usual levels of secrecy, 
we do know that our heroes find themselves up 
against a gender-flipped version of the comic 
book techno-terrorist Ghost (played by Hannah 
John-Kamen). It also looks like we'll get to find out 
the fate of Hope's mother, following the news that 
Michelle Pfeiffer has been cast as original Wasp, 
Janet van Dyne. 

One thing we do know for sure is that this 
is a Marvel movie we can't wait to experience 
on 3D BD. The original's stereoscopic encode 
made the most of the film's size-changing 
shenanigans, and with returning director Peyton 
Reed promising that the sequel will be bigger 
(or should that be smaller?) and better, we're 
again expecting creative use of the technology. 


Mission: impossible 
-Fallout 

In cinemas: July 26 

The sixth Mission: Impossible film marks several firsts 
for the series. It's the first to have a returning director 
(Christopher McQuarrie also oversaw previous 
instalment ...Rogue Nation). It's the first to be shot 
using IMAX 3D digital cameras. And it's also the first 
to have had production shut down for nine weeks 
after its leading man broke his ankle. 

If the prospect of watching the precise moment 
Cruise cracks his foot in crystal-clear slo-mo isn't 
enough to tempt you (the shot in question has 
already appeared in the trailer), then there are other 
reasons to get excited about Mission: Impossible 
- Fallout, and its 4K Blu-ray outing towards the end 
of the year. Chief among these are the spectacular 
stunts and action sequences that have become the 
franchise's bread and butter. 

Another reason is the news that Paramount is 
prepping the previous five films for debut on Ultra HD 
Blu-ray this year. Given that the Blu-ray releases 
of the first titles are in need of serious AV upgrades 
(they don't even sport lossless soundtracks), the idea 
of brand-new 4K masters with remixed Dolby Atmos 
(or even DTS-HD MA 5.1) audio is enough to have 
us humming the series theme tune in anticipation. 

Be wary of any six-film boxset, though - this is one 
franchise that may run and run. 



In Mission: Impossible - Fallout , Tom 
Cruise is still doing his own crazy stunts 


Jason Statham and Li Bingbing prepare 
for some aquatic action in The Meg 



The Meg 

In cinemas: August 10 

A certain breed of film fan will get as far as 'Jason 
Statham vs a giant shark' and pre-order their ticket 
for The Meg, but there's potentially more to this 
creature-feature than mere B-movie thrills. 

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has A-grade 
form with the likes of the Transformers series, 
Deepwater Horizon, Salt and Only the Brave, 
while the film's rumoured $150m budget has us 
hoping the inevitable CG beastie FX may stand 
up to scrutiny. 

And then there's leading man Jason Statham. 
While not renowned for his acting chops, he has 
undoubted screen presence, efficient stunt skills 
and - as an ex-diver who competed for the UK 
in the 1990 Commonwealth Games - he should 
breeze through the underwater scenes. 

The film itself has finally emerged from 
'development hell', with rights for its source novel 
(1997's Meg by Steve Alten) initially bought by 
Disney shortly after its publication. Twenty years 
later, thanks to a co-distribution deal between 
Warner Bros and Gravity Pictures, we will finally 
get the answer to the eternal question, 'Who 
wins in a battle between man and 70ft shark?' 

Look out for a 4K Blu-ray release late Autumn, 
by which time a sequel may have been quickly 
greenlit if The Meg swims, rather than sinks, at the 
global box office ■ 


[ ^ 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 









Watch a Blu-ray on your home cinema and frame 
interpolation technology can make it look better than ever. 
At least, that’s the ideay^^^^^^S separates the rough 
from the smooth 


28 FRAME INTERPOLATION 




HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 


MAIN IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/FUJJI 







TECH FOCUS 29 



/ 


WHILE CONTRAST, COLOURS and video 
processing are important considerations for those 
who value picture quality, motion performance 
is something that can make or break a television. 
After all, the vast majority of content we watch on 
TV is moving imagery. 

Let's start with the movies we have all come 
to appreciate and love. Traditionally, the frame rate 
of such material has been 24fps (or frames per 
second), a standard that was adopted initially for 
financial and technical reasons - it was the slowest 
frame rate at which comprehensible sound could be 
produced from synchronisation of the optical track 
running along the film. 

However, over the decades 24fps has become 
synonymous with the 'film' look: its dreamy and 
surreal aesthetics key to the suspension of disbelief 
that allows us to immerse in movies irrespective 
of how unrealistic the plot, dialogue and set design 
may be. Note that two films that have been released 
with higher frame rates (The Hobbit: An Unexpected 
Journey and Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk) drew 
shocked responses from viewers complaining that 
they looked 'fake' - see box out, p30. 

As 24 frames per second isn't the fastest of 
frame rates, 24fps material will not only contain 
some inherent blur, but also appear slightly shuttery 
(I try not to use the term 'judder' to describe the 
24p strobe effect), especially if magnified on 
modern largescreen TVs. These characteristics 
may not appeal to some viewers, prompting 
TV manufacturers to design frame interpolation 
algorithms to provide a clearer and smoother 
viewing experience. 

The numbers game 

Before we delve into frame interpolation, we need 
to talk about the panel refresh rate on televisions. 
Broadly speaking, there are 60Hz TVs and 120Hz 
TVs, with the latter being generally more expensive, 
particularly on higher resolutions - the more 
affordable 4K televisions (sub-£l,000 at launch) 
typically have a native refresh rate of 60Hz. In 
countries which use 50Hz power frequency (such as 
the UK), these TVs are marketed as 50Hz and 100Hz 
displays respectively, but for all intents and purposes 
they can do 60Hz and 120Hz too. 

Compared with a 120Hz panel, a 60Hz one 
suffers from a couple of limitations that will impact 
on its motion presentation. The first is seen when 
dealing with 24fps content such as movies and 
most non-soap dramas these days. Because 60 
is not fully divisible by 24, a telecine process known 
as 3:2 pulldown splits each frame into fields which 
are then displayed alternately in an uneven fashion: 
the first field repeated two times; the second field 
repeated three times; and so on and so forth. 

The outcome is a regular stutter that’s particularly 
visible during slow panning shots, otherwise known 
as telecinic judder. 

On the other hand, a 120Hz panel, as found on 
most high-end LED LCDs and OLEDs over the past 
couple of years, can present film footage at perfect 
multiples of 24Hz using a process called 5:5 
pulldown, therefore eradicating such judder. 


A 120Hz panel also allows for more options 
(for example frame interpolation and black frame 
insertion) to enhance the motion clarity and 
smoothness of 50Hz/60Hz content, since there 
are double the number of frames for such motion¬ 
boosting technologies to be deployed. 

This brings us to motion-compensated frame 
interpolation (aka MCFI). This creates an artificial 
frame between the original frames to either reduce 
motion blur, smooth out judder, or both. But 
depending on the implemented MCFI algorithm, 
two notable side effects can ensue. 

Scrubbing up 

The first is the infamous soap opera effect, which 
causes 24fps films to look like hyper-smooth, 
cheaply shot video, similar to those poor-quality 
Australian soaps you pretended to never watch 
in the 1980s (hence 'soap opera effect' or SOE). 

As mentioned earlier, the historical use of 24fps 
has established its qualities to be associated with 
high-quality cinematic production, and if you're 
a purist, subverting the very defining fabric of film 
through the introduction of soap opera affect will 
most likely lessen your enjoyment of the movie. 
Fortunately, more and more TV brands are now 
offering separate controls for interpolating low- and 
high-grade motion in their hardware user menus 
(more on this later), allowing viewers to improve 
motion sharpness without introducing SOE. 

Perhaps less avoidable are interpolation 
artefacts following the injection of artificial frames. 

If you've bought a new TV and watch it out of the 
box without adjusting the factory settings, you may 
have seen haloing, shimmering, tearing or other 
forms of aberrations around objects moving across 
a complex backdrop, for example a ball breaking 
up as it flies past the crowd in football broadcasts, 
or a person walking in front of a brick wall or 
leafy hedge. These artefacts are caused by the 
incapability of the onboard processing system 
(which is almost certainly enabled by default on 
modern TVs out of the box) to interpolate frames 
with enough precision. There's only so much 
guesswork the silicon can do. In general, the more 
aggressive the frame interpolation - the more it 
aims for a smooth image - the more artefacts that 
can be introduced. 

It's because of these shortcomings of frame 
interpolation that video enthusiasts are more 
excited by black frame insertion (or BFI) technology 
to boost motion resolution. As suggested by the 
name, this technique inserts a black frame between 
the original frames to emulate the low-persistence 
properties of impulse-type displays. You may be 
confused by now, so let me explain. 

A TV can broadly be categorised as either a 
hold-type or impulse-type display depending on 
how the panel is driven. Hold-type displays like 
LCDs (including those using an LED backlight) and 
OLEDs display each frame continuously until it’s 
replaced by the next frame. Research has shown 
that it is the persistence of the preceding static 
frame in our retina, as our eyes track the movement 
on screen, that contributes significantly to what > I 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


30 FRAME INTERPOLATION 




'LG is offering black frame 
insertion for the first time 
in the company's OLED 
history on its 2018 fleet' 


we perceive as motion blur - referred to as the 
sample-and-hold effect. 

On impulse-type displays such as CRTs and 
plasmas (remember them?), the decay of the 
phosphors naturally introduces a fade-to-black 
interval which effectively 'refreshes' our retina 
and clears out any prolonged frame persistence, 
resulting in improved motion clarity. This is 
basically what black frame insertion is trying to 
achieve, by mimicking impulse- 
driven motion on hold-type displays. 

Like all pharmaceutical products, 
black frame insertion is not without 
its own side effects. One is a drop 
in light output, but most mid/ 
high-end TVs in recent years should 
have enough brightness reserves 
to compensate appropriately. In an industry first, 
Sony has this year also debuted a technology 
(X-Motion Clarity) on its XF90 series of full-array 
local dimming LED televisions, which utilises 
the TV's dimming algorithm to locally boost the 
brightness of picture segments where black frame 
insertion takes place. 

More problematic is flicker caused by the artificial 
injection of black frames. This may be more 
apparent depending on the source frame rate 
(on the 2017 Panasonic and Sony OLEDs, 50Hz 
material looked more flickery than 60Hz content); 
black flash duty cycle; and your own sensitivity. 

But if you can tolerate (or even better, don't notice) 


the flicker, then you can enjoy heightened motion 
clarity without having to put up with soap opera 
effect or interpolation artefacts. It is because of the 
clamour for black frame insertion among video 
enthusiasts that LG is offering the technology for 
the first time in the company's OLED history on its 
2018 models. 

On that note, let's explore the motion-enhancing 
technologies found on the four leading TV brands in 
the UK. 

True Intelligent Auto Motionflow! 

LG calls its motion-smooth technology TruMotion, 
and before 2018, this was made up of purely 
motion-compensated frame interpolation without 
black frame insertion. Even the least aggressive 
TruMotion preset of Clear introduced noticeable 
soap opera effect and interpolation artefacts, 
prompting most cinephiles to switch the processing 
off for the best results. 

The South Korean brand does offer separate 
De-Judder and De-Blur controls in the TruMotion 
'User' sub-menu to target 24/25fps and 50/60fps 
content respectively. If you wish to smooth out 
judder in movies, nudge de-judder up gently; whereas 
if you want higher motion clarity, use the de-blur 
control. By experimenting, it's possible to arrive at 
a balanced set of values that increases motion 
sharpness without overtly significant soap opera 
effect, though look out for the odd stutter or glitch 
from time to time. 



llnexpeeteh 
frame tate± 

Peter Jackson's Hobb'i 
flicks had a surprise 


v -*■ -• 

- 

. ... - - 4P m* 

For his trilogy of Hobbit movies, director Peter 
Jackson returned to Middle-earth with a new 
weapon - a high frame rate. The first flick in the 
series, 2012's4n Unexpected Journey, was shot 
at 48fps, and both sequels followed suit. 

Not all cinemas screened the movie at 48fps, 
however. In fact, most didn't, instead using 
a more standard 24fps conversion, meaning most 
audiences didn't experience it. 


Response to Jackson's groundbreaking 
presentation was generally unfavourable. 'It 
looks uncomfortably like telly, albeit telly shot 
with impossibly high production values,' said film 
critic Peter Bradshaw. Yet Jackson was adamant 
that 48fps was the right way to go, telling movie 
website Den of Geek: '48 frames is by far the best 
way to see this film... 24 frames was arrived at in 
a very arbitrary way, and it’s become the way 


we’ve become used to seeing things. But 24 
frames isn’t very good.' 

For the movie's domestic media release, it 
was only available at 24fps, due to higher frame 
rates not being part of the Blu-ray specification. 
It's possible a future UHD release could see a 
48fps presentation, so those who missed The 
Hobbit in HFR at cinemas may one day get a taste 
of it themselves. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 




Panasonic's MCFI technology is available through 
the Intelligent Frame Creation option in the user 
menu, and since 2016 the Japanese company 
has also started providing control over backlight 
scanning/black frame insertion via a Clear Motion 
setting. From my experience testing Intelligent Frame 
Creation on the Panasonic TVs I've calibrated, 'IFC 
Min' is a good catch-all setting that reduces motion 
blur and judder while incurring only the slightest 
blink-and-you'll-miss-it soap opera effect and 
interpolation artefacts. 

For the more adventurous, Panasonic also offers 
independently adjustable Film Smooth and Blur 
Reduction settings in the Intelligent Frame Creation 
'Custom' sub-menu on its latest TVs. Use the former 
to smooth out judder in movies, and the latter to 
improve motion clarity, especially in fast-moving 
sports broadcasts. 

Next up, Samsung offers frame interpolation and 
black frame insertion on its higher-end televisions, 
both found under the Auto Motion Plus sub-menu. 
I've always found the default Auto Motion Plus 
presets to be overly aggressive, resulting in apparent 
soap opera effect and distracting artefacts, but 
thankfully the flatscreen giant also offers separate 
Blur Reduction and Judder Reduction controls in 
the Auto Motion Plus 'Custom' area, allowing users 
to achieve higher motion clarity without having 
to endure objectionable slickness. The company's 
black frame insertion control, namely LED Clear 
Motion, can be found here too, and among the 
major TV brands, Samsung's BFI algorithm tends 
to introduce the least flicker across 24Hz, 50Hz and 
60Hz sources. 

Sony is the only TV manufacturer out of the 
'Big Four' to not offer independently adjustable 
de-blur and de-judder settings in its Motionflow 
sub-menu. What this means is that to achieve 
any meaningful increase in motion resolution on 
a Sony Bravia, some soap opera effect is inevitable 
however mild, although to be fair it's not as 
offensive as that of other brands. Sony's motion 
processing is widely considered to be the best in 
the industry: even with Motionflow off, slow panning 
shots in 24fps films generally look smoothest 
on Sony TVs, and should you choose to engage 
Motionflow, you'll see less interpolation artefacts 
than on rival sets. 

Delve into Sony's Motionflow 'Custom' sub-menu, 
and you'll find Smoothness and Clearness sliders 
which determine the intensity of frame interpolation 
and backlight scanning respectively. Increasing the 
Clearness value will darken the image, and on certain 
Sony televisions, setting Clearness to 'Max' will 
activate pure black frame insertion (akin to the 
'Impulse' mode on older Sony Bravias) which causes 
too much flicker and brightness drops for most use 
cases. The combination of Motionflow 'True Cinema' 
and the correct Film Mode setting allows users 
to recover 24p cadence from 60p sources for 
a smoother result without telecinic judder. 

A question of taste 

There's a lot of tweaking experimentation to be done 
then, although at the end of the day, HCC is of the 


Auto Motion Plus 

Auto Motion Plus 
Blur Reduction 
- Judder Reduction 

■ LEO Clear Motion 


Smooth out uneven or 
jumpy visual 
. processing by 

reducing Judder on the 


Samsung TVs 
allow custom 
control of blur and 
judder reduction 


Key 

■ Original frame 

■ Interpolated frame 



belief that when watching movies, you should 
only consider using frame interpolation if your TV 
(for example a 60Hz model) is not capable of 
reproducing 24fps without judder. Even then, we'd 
probably rather put up with occasional judder (which 
is normally only visible in slow panning shots) than 
with soap opera effect, as this permeates the entire 
movie and alters the underlying motion qualities that 
define film. Due to the low frame rate, 24fps material 
is inherently blurry (just pause any fast-action scene 
and you'll see the blur is present in the source) and 
slightly shuttery anyway, so frame interpolation 
(and black frame insertion, for that matter) won't 
provide any sizeable benefit. 

Video-based content such as fast-action sports, 
on the other hand, stands to benefit from judicious 
application of motion-compensated frame 
interpolation and/or black frame insertion, simply 
because the higher frame rate places more demand 
on the end display for a clearer, smoother picture. 

For watching sports, a good rule of thumb is to 
set your TV’s MCFI control (if present) to its least 
aggressive setting (normally one notch above 'Off'). 
In most cases this should be sufficient to boost 
motion clarity without introducing significant 
artefacts. Happy experimenting! ■ 


Frame interpolation adds new 'artificial 1 
frames between original frames (above) | 
to reduce motion blur. However, 
interpolation artefacts caused by 
inefficient processing are possible, and 
the sort of thing to annoy AV purists! 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 







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34 DREAM THEATRE/WWW.SON A.TECHNOLOGY 



Room reborn 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 









INSTALL 35 




Check out a seven-seat cinema where attention 
to detail and careful planning gets the best from 
some state-of-the-art AV hardware 





KITCHECKLIST 

SONY : VPL-VW550ES 4K HDR projector (with 
Panamorph Paladin anamorphic lens); PS4 Pro 
LUMAGEN: Radiance Pro video processor 
DENON: AVR-X6300H AV receiver 
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES: Dynamic-2S projector 
screen with 4:3/16:9/2.40:1 masking 
ARTCOUSTIC: 3 x SL 8-4s (front LCR); 4 x 40-30 SL 
4-2s (surround/rear); 4 x Architect SL 4-2s (height); 
2 x Control 2 subwoofers; 2 x PA-750 sub amps 
SKY'; Q Silver PVR 

APPLE: Apple TV 4K; iPad (control) 

OPPO: UDP-205 Ultra HD Blu-ray/universal disc 
. -3 player (multi-region) 

■ JSM NINTENDO: Switch; Wii U 
MICROSOFT: Xbox One X 
RTI: XP-6 control processor 





FOR THIS PROJECT, Cheshire-based installer 
SONA was asked to take an existing (and 
underused) room and give the owner a setup 
worthy of the Sony 4K projector and 11-channel 
Denon receiver they'd already invested in, with two 
rows of seating, a motorised masking projection 
screen for constant height presentation, and 
a 'full-fat' 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos speaker system. 

To ensure these aims could be reached (while 
accommodating some windows that had to be 
retained) 3D modelling and speaker placement 
calculations were conducted. The finished design 
not only includes a new front wall to house screen 
and LCR speaker/subwoofers, but redesigned walls 
that hide surround speakers and black-out blinds, 
giving the space a 'regular' feel when it's not being 
used for 4K movie action. > 



zsssssssssssgr 


Once 

projector screen v 
from floor to ceiling 





new 


*-s^*sirsss?si-” 

and twin subwoofers 




MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


















36 DREAM THEATRE 



An RTI controller and Apple iPad with a custom Ul 
drive the system. Whether the room is used for a Sky 
Q binge-session or Xbox gaming test, the projector, 
screen, blinds and lighting all kick into action at the 
touch of a button. Advanced image calibration 
comes via a Lumagen Radiance processor, which 
also works with a Panamorph anamorphic lens to 
deliver constant height, pixel-for-pixel aspect ratio 
switching. Smart lighting, a tidy kit rack and plush 
seating complete the premium package ■ 


A Hit the lights! 

The room's multizone lighting is controlled 
via Lutron Grafik Eye QS hardware 

B. Box of tricks 

A Lumagen Radiance Pro processor delivers 
advanced LUT calibration, and manages aspect 
ratios of 4K content before being output to the 
Sony projector 

C. Atmos on tap 

The owner's Denon AVR-X6300H was called 
into duty to front the cinema's 7.2.4 Artcoustic 
speaker array 

D. Touch and go 

Choose a source via the iPad's Ul, and the cinema's 
RTI controller does the rest, instigating automatic 
control over lighting, projector and blinds 

E. Perfect vision 

The twin-tier seating arrangement offers line-of- 
sight for up to seven viewers 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 








INSTALL 37 






ptTL i 
r i 



MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 




















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020 8663 3777 beckenham@musicalimages.co.uk 

173 Station Road, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 7JX 
020 8952 5535 edgware@musicalimages.co.uk 

82 High Street, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2SP 
01582 764246 harpenden@musicalimages.co.uk 

Opening times - 9.30am to 5.30pm 

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REVIEWS 

■♦Hardware SONY 55in XF9005 4K HDR TV with XI Extreme processor 
BOWERS & WILKINS 5.1700 Series system SAMSUNG 65in Q9 QLED TV NAD 7-channel AVR 
with Dirac Room EQ HITACHI Affordable 75in 4K TV VIVITEK Mid-price 4K DLP projector 
LG Dolby Vision-capable Ultra HD Blu-ray player CELLO Battery-powered 32in TV & MORE! 



Denon's AVC-X8500H ups the AV stakes 
with its 13 channels of onboard power. 
We rustle up the speakers to match and 
listen in - see p52 


HCC RATINGS KEY. 


Outstanding 


Above average 


Acceptable 


Disappointing 


All prices quoted are approximate and may have changed 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 







4C SONY KD-55XF9005/£1,700 



Direct-lit 4KHDR 
LED TV with Android 
smarts 


Below Sony's A8F 
OLEDandZD9 
LED flagships 


Panasonic 55FX750; 
LG 55SK9500 


Sony’s first 2018 screen barely puts a mid-range foot 
wrong, enthuses Steve May 


Sony plays a 
peaky blinder 


7. A similar handset to 
last year's model, but 
a new 'Apps 1 key is given 
a central position 


2. The XF9005 uses a 
full array local dimming 
(FALD) backlight 



It's all about the backlight. You can have the smartest image 
processor in the showroom, but if your backlight isn’t up to snuff 
then that shiny new LCD panel just isn’t going to impress. 

This is one very good reason why AV enthusiasts adore full array 
LED systems - even the cleverest edge-lighting tends to betray 
itself sooner or later with light pooling and splotchy artefacts. 


Unfortunately, direct-lit LED TVs aren't particularly 
common, not least because the majority of consumers 
equate thinness with quality, and those extra lamps add 
girth to a set. It matters not a jot on the high street that 
a direct LED-backlit TV will typically do a better job 
presenting HDR highlights and deeper blacks. 

Thankfully, Sony continues to offer enthusiasts the 
option. Last year’s XE9005 was a critical hit, which this 
year gives way to the XF9005. The good news is this 
update introduces a number of significant improvements 
over its predecessor. 

For one thing, that critical backlight has been boosted 
for better contrast, and the set’s image processor has been 
upgraded to XI Extreme, which is trickling its way down 
the range to make way for the XI Ultimate later in the 
year (probably). It also heralds a new motion handling 
technique called X-Motion Clarity. 

Making a stand 

I can’t quite decide about the design of this 55in TV, to be 
honest. The 55XF9005 has an ultra-thin aluminium bezel 
and the branding is wonderfully subtle, but I’m not a huge 
fan of the non-wobble pedestal feet, which look oversized 
and inelegant. However, you may value the generally 
rock-solid footing. 

Connections include four 4K-ready HDCP 2.2-enabled 
HDMIs, a trio of USBs (one a v3.0 for timeshifting onto an 
external USB hard drive), mini-jack AV input, digital optical 
audio output and Ethernet. The XF9005 also supports 
Bluetooth pairing with wireless headphones. 

HDR support currently runs to HDR10 and HLG, 
with the promise of Dolby Vision via a firmware update. 
The sooner Sony can get its DV house in order in the UK, 
the better, as the number of discs is growing quickly. 

There’s no change on the connected front as Sony 
remains committed to the Android TV platform. 


Consequently, this set is sans Freeview Play, using a 
YouView app to offer integrated catch-up and roll-back 
EPG. In use, the Android TV OS remains almost comically 
flaky: for example, throwing up messages that it can’t 
display live TV (on top of a live TV broadcast), or 
complaining it isn’t connected to the internet, before 
promptly changing its mind. Perhaps it’s just developed 
a dry sense of humour? 

Integrated streaming apps include Amazon Prime Video, 
Netflix, YouTube, Google Play, Rakuten TV, Mubi and others. 
Amazon and Netflix both stream in 4K and HDR, while 
both Netflix and Google Play get dedicated buttons on 
the remote control. The set also has VP9 decoding for 
YouTube 4K material, Chromecast built-in for direct 
streaming from Chromecast-enabled apps, and support 
for voice control from Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. 

Black beauty 

The value of the TV's full array backlight is immediately 
noticeable. Screen tonality is smooth and black backdrops 
largely uniform. There are one none of the murky grey 
puddles witnessed on low-quality edge LED displays. 

An X-tended Dynamic Range PRO adjustment allows 
the set to turn up and lower the backlight for accuracy 
(I opted to leave it on Medium), but there is a limit to the 
precision of its backlight dimming. The XF9005 doesn’t 
have anywhere near the same number of LED clusters as 
found on Sony's ZD9 flagship [see HCC #282], so there 
is some blooming around bright objects held on dark 
backgrounds (particularly noticeable when you view 
off-axis). For the most part, however, images are even. 

A key attribute of the XI Extreme processor is image 
clarity. The panel exhibits full-fat 4K detail in all viewing 
modes; if it’s in the source, you’ll see in on the screen. 

A dual database is on hand to aid noise reduction 
accuracy and fine detail presentation. And as a Triluminos 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 












REVIEWS 41 



Mark Hamill gets 
up to his old tricks 
k \n The Last Jedi 
•— on 4K BD 




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42 REVIEWS 



wide colour gamut set, the XF9005 packs a delicious, 
rich colour punch. 

There’s a dizzying array of image presets and 
adjustments to explore. Of the two cinema modes, Cinema 
Home offers a slightly higher average picture level, and 
looks rather better. The Standard preset became my go-to 
for general day-to-day viewing. 

A big surprise, however, is Vivid mode. Forget your 
preconceptions: this preset improves clarity and nuance, 
and enhances colour depth. The first act of Okja, in HDR 

‘On Transformers: The Last 
Knight the glinting robots 
and not-infrequent 
explosions look spectacular' 

on Netflix, with its dappled forest scenery, finds the 
XF9005 unleashing tremendous detail. In Vivid mode, 
that Super Pig looks extra tasty... 

Standard image adjustments include colour, brightness 
and clarity - the latter an umbrella covering Sharpness, 
Reality Creation and noise reduction. Sharpness is best set 
at 40 on the sliding scale, which is lower than the default. 
There’s an ambient light sensor, but my advice is to turn 
this off to maintain image consistency. 

Out of the box, the TV’s HDR performance is impressive. 
I measured just over 1,000 nits with a 5 per cent window, 
dropping to around 750 nits with a 10 per cent window. 
Even a full-field SDR screen is delivered at just over 380 
nits, which is exceptionally bright. An expansive dynamic 
range means there’s far less requirement for tone mapping, 
and therefore less chance of image errors. 

This inherent vibrancy wows on Transformers: The Last 
Knight (4K Blu-ray), where the glinting robots and not- 
infrequent explosions look spectacular. When the fireballs 
land in the opening medieval battle sequence, there’s 
a fitting intensity to their impact. 

Sony’s Object-Based HDR Remaster, a non-negotiable 
image enhancement (unless you stick to True Cinema), 
does a consistently good job improving the dynamics of 
regular HD and SDR 4K. 


SPECIFICATIONS 

3D; No 4K: Yes. 3,840x2,160 HDR: Yes. HDR10; HLG; Dolby Vision (via future 
firmware) TUNER: Yes. Freeview HD; satellite CONNECTIONS: 4 x HDMI inputs; 3 x 
USB; Ethernet; optical digital audio output; AV input; headphone output 

SOUND (CLAIMED): 2 x 10W BRIGHTNESS (CLAIMED): N/A CONTRAST RATIO 
(CLAIMED): N/A DIMENSIONS (OFFSTAND): l,228(w) x 706(h) x 69(d)mm 
WEIGHT (OFFSTAND): 18.2kg 

FEATURES: Built-in Wi-Fi; Bluetooth headphone support; Android TV with 
Chromecast built-in; 4K X-Reality PRO with dual database processing, X-tended 
Dynamic Range PRO; X-Motion Clarity; object-based HDR Remaster 


PARTNER WITH 



S0NYUBP-X700: Released 
this January, Sony's latest 
4K disc spinner (£250) is the 
brand's first to offer Dolby 
Vision playback - albeit after 
a firmware update later this 
year. Stripped of analogue 
outputs, but SACD playback 
is retained. 


HDR isn’t just about peak highlights, of course; low- 
luminance handling is important too. Only a select few 
movies really push the envelope when it comes to 
spectral highlights, but a good many more have 
information in the HDR10 grade at less than 100 nits, 
which can be a real challenge for both LED LCDs and 
OLED. Sony attempts to solve the issue with Super 
Bit-Mapping processing to allow the panel to present 
smoother gradations. Given this is a mid-range model, 
the onscreen results are impressive. 

The much touted X-Motion Clarity innovation, which 
selectively boosts LED brightness depending on the image 
to counter the dimming of black frame insertion, works 
well. Motion handling across the board (the Motionflow 
menu provides various flavours) is generally excellent. 

Where the XF9005 does under-deliver is image lag. 
Gamers won’t be impressed to learn that in Standard 
mode I measured input lag at 95.8ms. And this only drops 
to 39.3ms in the dedicated gaming mode, which remains 
relatively poor. 

Audio, too, is unexciting. It's acceptable for everyday 
use, but with down-firing stereo drivers and no woofer 
the panel demands to be partnered with something a little 
more cinematic for movie night. The power output claim 
is a meagre 2 x 10W. 


3. The XF9005's twin 
desktop feet focus on 
stability rather than 
aesthetic appeal 


Raising the bar 

While it’s lagging behind rivals (pun intended) when it 
comes to gaming, and the Android TV OS and general 
Ul are about as slick as sandblasted concrete, the rest of 
the XF9005’s feature set is strong. It’s early days for 2018 
screens, but a solid 4K HDR picture performance, excellent 
SDR upscaling, trendy design and admirable motion 
handling are all reasons to shortlist this model. It sets 
a high bar for the 4K mid-range ■ 


HCC VERDICT 

★★★★★ 

Sony KD-55XF9005 



£1,700 www.sony.co.uk 


^First-class image processing, dynamic HDR and a 
smooth direct LED backlight make this mid-range 4K LED 
TV a must-see. Android OS doesn't impress, though. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 


















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AUDIO T 0238 025 2827 

ARCAM 

'ww.arcam.co.uk 















Ed Selley admires the power and control of this moody-looking 
seven-channel AV receiver 


NAD and Dirac's 
lucky seven 


NAD is entering the 3D audio premium AVR market 
with its T 777 V3. As the name suggests, this is the 
latest revision to the 777 platform. However, changes 
are significant enough that it could have been marketed 
as an all-new model and I wouldn't have felt aggrieved. 


At its core, the T 777 V3 is a seven-channel design. 
These channels can be allocated as 7.1 or 5.1.2, with 
support for Dolby Atmos at the time of review and DTS:X 
compatibility in the pipeline. 

Of course, these days any premium AVR limiting its user 
to just seven channels is going to get some odd looks, so 
it's no surprise to see the T 777 V3 featuring phono preouts 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 














REVIEWS 45 



for 5.2.4,7.2.2 and 7.2.4 support via external power 
amplifiers - products that NAD itself is well known for. 

Decoding is via six HDMI connections (one of which is on 
the front panel). All support 4K passthrough with HDCP 2.2 
and HDR10. As with DTS:X, compatibility with Dolby Vision 
and HDR10+ formats is in the works via a firmware update. 
The HDMI inputs join to two outputs. 

The amplification of the T 777 V3 is rated at 80W per 
channel which, notionally at least, puts it behind most 
rivals. The wrinkle to this is that NAD quotes the 80W 
figure as all channels driven into 8 ohms at a low distortion 
of 0.08% THD. In reality, the T 777 V3 is probably better 
endowed than much of the competition. 

While NAD's high-end Masters Series amps use 
Hypex's nCore Class D amplification, the T 777 features 
a Class AB output stage, connected to a toroidal power 
supply and NAD's 'PowerDrive' circuit, which the company 
says allows for 'very high dynamic power' while keeping 
distortion low. 

A row of cooling fans are fitted to the underside of 
the receiver but these have either not kicked in during 
testing or are impressively silent in use. Indeed, NAD says 
its fan circuit has a neat trick, cutting out during a quiet 
scene in a movie to stop the sound of gushing air upsetting 
the ambience. 


Compared to rivals that have nine, 11 or even 13 
channels of onboard power, the T 777 V3 is going to be 
more expensive to run in ‘full fat’ mode. But even if you 
are only planning a smaller configuration, the lure here 
is of better-quality amplification. 

There's another lure, actually. A big revision to the 
specification for this V3 model is the removal of the old 
Audyssey EQ system and the introduction of Dirac Live. 
Well, sort of. As standard, the T 777 V3 comes with Dirac 
Live LE, which performs analysis between 20Hz and 
500Hz (where most room nodes are likely to lurk). For an 
extra $99, you can upgrade to the full Dirac Live suite and 
gain correction between 20Hz and 20kHz. NAD supplies 
a calibration microphone and setup software with some 
useful prompts. 

Another aspect of the receiver's specification that is 
noteworthy is support for Bluesound's excellent BluOS 
system (Bluesound and NAD both being brands under 
the Lenbrook umbrella). BluOS allows for UPnP streaming, 
internet radio and access to pretty much any streaming 
service you can think of (and some you can’t). It also 
permits input, volume and basic settings adjustment 
of the T 777 V3. One criticism, however, is that the BluOS 
module isn’t built into the chassis, but is instead on a 
slightly ungainly looking USB dongle. 

This can at least be hidden out of sight. Whether you’ll 
want to hide the receiver itself is open to debate. In true 
NAD form, it is another grey box but I find myself rather 
liking it. The front panel layout is logical and the build 
quality is first-rate. You also get an excellent multifunction 
backlit remote which makes control simple; one feature 
it has that's hugely useful is the ability to adjust the centre, 
surround and subwoofer levels on the fly, which can give 
muffled dialogue a quick boost without reverting to the 
settings menu. 

If you’re a masochist, you can use a smaller 
‘convenience’ handset instead, which is as dreadful here 
as it is on a number of other NAD devices. 

Taking everything in its stride 

Initially running without any Dirac correction, there are 
some aspects of the T 777 V3's performance that are rather 
more familiar to the two-channel side of my life than the 
AV one. Ask me to find one word to sum up to this AVR's 
performance and it would be ‘unflappable.’ 

This is an exceptionally even-handed and controlled 
performer. It manages to unpick even the densest 
multichannel soundmix without any apparent struggle. 

The aural insanity of the first beach assault in Edge of 
Tomorrow (Blu-ray) is conveyed with an immaculate sense 
of order and effects placement. Some rivals are able to 
convey a little more ballistic energy, but they often sound 
ragged by comparison. 

In a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos configuration, the T 777 V3 brings 
this same effortless control to Mad Max: Fury Road 
(Blu-ray). The detail retrieval it manages as a matter of 
course is seriously impressive, and thanks to there being 
pretty much nothing in the way of distortion from the 
onboard amplification, you can wind the levels right 
up with only the potential rage of your neighbours to 
contend with. This makes it even easier to enjoy the 
finer subtleties of the soundtrack, like the outrageous 
noise that Immortan Joe’s Gigahorse makes during the 
chase through the canyon. And the advantage of the 
NAD’s masterful approach to effects placement is that > 


AVINFO 


7-channel Dirac EQ 
AVR with 11-channel 
processing 


POSITION: 


Below NAD's Masters 
Series, above the 
T758 V3 receiver 


PEERS: 


Arcam AVR550; 
Anthem MRX 720 


The AVR's design 
is best described 
as'understated 1 ... 


2. NAD's backlit 
remote is brilliantly 
easy to use 



MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


















46 REVIEWS 



it is no less effective when viewing things that are not 
quite as anarchic. The newsroom sequence in journo 
drama Christine (Blu-ray) is relayed with genuine realism 
and an ear for detail, again allowing you to slip into the 
movie without distraction. 

All this control and cohesion means, ironically, that the 
impact of the Dirac optimisation isn’t as night-and-day 
as you might expect. Running the software helped to 
even out a 40Hz room peak in my setup, and a slight dip 
in the 200Hz region, and further improves the sense of 
soundstage handling and refinement. Yet an important 
aspect of Dirac is that applying it doesn’t affect the basic 
character of your speakers or rob them of any of their 
sense of energy. 

The ‘RoomFeel’ Target EQ curve that NAD supplies with 
the LE software is worth investigating. Through my Elipson 
speakers, there was an increase to the sense of ‘body’ 
in the performance. You might construe this as adding 
warmth, but it doesn’t adversely affect the impressive 
speed and dynamics that the T 777 V3 has in spades. 

With a larger set of speakers that interact with a room 


SPECIFICATIONS 

DOLBY ATMOS: Yes DTS:X: No (but promised via future firmware) THX: No 

MULTICHANNEL INPUT: Yes. 7.1-channel MULTICHANNEL PRE-OUT: Yes. 11.2 phono 
MULTICHANNEL OUTPUT (CLAIMED): 7 x 80W (into 8 ohms) MULTIROOM: Yes. Zone 2, 
3 and 4 AVINPUTS: 4 x digital audio (2 x optical and 2 x coaxial) HDMI: Yes. 6 x 
inputs; 2 x outputs COMPONENT VIDEO: No VIDEO UPSCALING: No DIMENSIONS: 

435(w) x 425(d) x 172(h)mm WEIGHT: 20.5kg 


FEATURES: MDC Modular Construction enables future hardware updates; Wi-Fi; 
Bluetooth; Ethernet; USB input; RS-232; 12V trigger in/out; Dirac Live LE EQ/room 
optimisation (upgradable to Dirac Live) with supplied mic; BluOS integration 
(via dongle) for hi-res streaming, multiroom integration and app control; intelligent 


cooling fans; HDCP 2.2; Class AB amplification 


PARTNER WITH 



PSBIMAGINEXA: For Atmos 
upfiring speakers, NAD's 
sister-brand PSB sells these 
dual-driver modules. We rate 
them a solid combination 
of value and performance 
-the £350 per pair price 
means adding a quartet isn't 
too prohibitive. 


feet and wickedly entertaining. This receiver is more 
musical than its gruff exterior might have you believe. 

Potently powerful 

Choosing the T 777 V3 is a balancing act of features versus 
ability. For the same money, you can have more channels 
onboard, more inputs and be good to go with DTS:X - 
the NAD does currently feel slightly like a work in progress. 
But put into action, this premium seven-channel AVR is 
easy to live with day-to-day, potently powerful and will 
drop neatly into most rooms thanks to its advanced 
onboard room optimisation. It warrants being on any 


more vigorously, or an 11-channel array with all those 


shortlist at the price ■ 


extra reflections to take care of, I imagine that both Dirac 
and the target curve will have a greater effect on the 
performance, and impart more of a character shift than 
has been the case with my audition. 

Tying up the T 777 V3’s apparent desire to be all things 
to all people, it’s no slouch musically either. Listening to 
a hi-res FLAC of David Byrne’s American Utopia on Qobuz 
sees this receiver deliver a performance that is light on its 


HOC VERDICT 

★★★★★ 

NADT777V3 



I £2,500 nadelectronics.com 

B Superb sound quality and slick usability should put this 

seven-channel AVR on your radar, although the current lack of 
DTS:X decoding might be a deal-breaker. 



3. For the T 777 V3, 
NAD replaces Audyssey 
EQ with Dirac 


4. A lack of legacy 
video inputs makes 
this back-plate look 
a little sparse 


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SIGNALS 01394 672464 

SOUTHEND 

RAYLEIGH HI-FI 01702 435255 
STRATFORD 

MUSIC MATTERS 01789 414533 


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REVIEWS 9 


David Vivian auditions a heavy-hitting 5.1 system 
that's focused on delivering stunning sound 


Big speakers, 
big sonics 


If you’re going to drop the best part of £7,500 on a 5.1 speaker 
system, you’ve every right to expect - as Doc Brown put it in 
the expletive over-dubbed print of Back to The Future - some 
serious ‘stuff’. And few speaker makers do stuff more seriously 
than Bowers & Wilkins. 


With its new 700 Series lineup, it appears the UK 
company didn't think holding back was an option. 

I’ll get to the wealth of trickle-down technology in 
a moment but, in essence, the new 700 effectively 
replaces the old CM (Compact Monitor) line, and fashions 
itself as the affordable alternative to the company’s 
flagship 800 Series Diamond range. And if you think 
a total spend of £7,346 (and adding £400 for the 705 S2’s 
dedicated stands, not photographed) is playing fast and 
loose with the meaning of ‘affordable’, bear in mind that 
this handsome gang of glossy black boxes undercuts 
a single pair of 802 D3s by £8,754. If the 800 Series 
Diamond magic dust claim isn’t just marketing fluff, 
the omens are surely good. 

B&W doesn’t do home cinema speaker packages 
with incentivising discounts but it does supply all the 
ingredients for a pick ‘n’ mix approach and, but for the 
inclusion of an even bigger subwoofer, what you see here 
is about as good as it gets for an immersive B&W ensemble 
that starts with a 7. Let’s begin with the big, three-way 702 
S2 floorstander (£3,300 per pair) at the front, as these 
showcase neatly what the new 700 series is all about. 

Tech-tastic tweeter 

Perhaps the one thing that most obviously mirrors 
the 800 Series’ flagship technology is the de-coupled 
tweeter that sits on top of the main enclosure in its own 
bullet-shaped ‘Solid Body’ housing. Visually, it’s almost 
a dead ringer. Inside, however, B&W tasks carbon rather 
than diamond to do the 25mm dome’s bidding, which 
is one of the reasons the system’s price is altogether 
more earthbound. 

Performance-wise, this new carbon dome seeks to 
bridge the gap between the aluminium double dome used 
in the company’s 600 Series range and the diamond dome 
that crowns the 800 Series Diamond. In other words, it’s 
the best B&W can do without resorting to exotic materials 
and unavoidable expense. 


This carbon dome has two parts. The front part is a 
300-micron aluminium dome stiffened by a PVD (Physical 
Vapour Deposition) coat of carbon. This is teamed with 
a 300-micron carbon ring bonded to the inner face 
of the structure. The resulting stiffness, resistance to 
distortion and light mass is claimed to push the first 
break-up point to 47kHz, well out of harm’s way unless 
you were born on Krypton. 

‘What you see here is about 
as good as it gets for 
a B&W ensemble with an 
earthbound price tag 1 

As for the de-coupled, bullet-shaped housing, it’s 
milled from a solid mass of aluminium to make a hefty 
structure that weighs 1kg and is exceptionally inert. 
Moreover, it acts as a heatsink and is de-coupled from 
the main box in exactly the same way as the 800 Series 
Diamond via what looks to be a tiny, but quite stiff, nib of 
rubber. It also has the benefit of looking extremely cool, 
but makes using these speakers with any Atmos upfiring 
module a bit awkward. 

The secret sauce 

Moving down the speaker, the 5.5in ‘Continuum cone’ 
midrange driver provides another physical link with 800 
models, and confirmation that B&W has shifted away 
from Kevlar weave as a diaphragm for its premium lines. 
Although the newer woven composite cone material itself 
is B&W’s little secret, the underlying concept evolves that 
for which Kevlar was first used: overcoming the deleterious 
effects of a conventional cone’s transition from pistonic 
motion to break-up modes. 

B&W calls it ‘optimised and controlled flexibility’, and 
the intended upshot is a cleaner, sweeter, more open 



MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


















5C REVIEWS 


and neutral mid-band performance. It's hard to say how 
much of a helping hand the new midrange driver’s FEA 
(Finite Element Analysis)-optimised aluminium chassis 
lends to this, but it’s certainly a step up from the heavier 
and less-stiff zinc chassis used in the outgoing CM Series. 

The driver derives further benefit from a tuned mass 
damper on the front face of the chassis to soak up any 
remaining resonance in the structure. And, adapted from 
the system used by the 800 Series Diamond, it also 
enjoys a degree of de-coupling from the main enclosure. 

The 702 S2 is a tall and imposing tower, so there’s room 
for no fewer than three 6.5in bass drivers - and, again, 
elements are trickled down from the 800 Series Diamond. 
The principles behind the so-called Aerofoil cone - its 
variable-thickness diaphragm profile determined by 
advanced computer modelling - are the same, but where 
the 800 has carbon fibre skins, the 702 uses paper. And the 
sandwich filling, which allows the variable thickness, is EPS 
rather than syntactic foam. It’s enough for B&W to claim 
nothing less than a ‘dramatic’ uplift in bass performance 
from the previous CM Series. 

Talented standmount 

Surround duties can sometimes be under-appreciated, 
to the extent they’re entrusted to the most humble 
standmount within arm’s reach. That’s not the case here. 
The 705 S2 (£1,800 per pair) is the star standmount 
in the 700 Series range and the only other model with 
a solid body, top-mounted, decoupled carbon tweeter. 

This setup has formidable 
power and precision, 
seamless integration and a 
beautifully open mid-band' 

There's just the one rear-facing bass reflex port instead 
of the 702 S2’s two, and one 6.5in Continuum midbass 
driver to keep the tweeter company but, sampled in stereo 
on the end of my reference hi-fi system, this speaker 
has talent to burn. 

On LFE duty in this 5.1 array, and with a name that 
sounds like a modern take on 007’s favourite Aston 
Martin, is the sealed DB4S active subwoofer. B&W could 
have supplied an even beastlier bass engine (the dual¬ 
driver DB2D, for instance), but the forward-firing lOin 
Carbon Aerofoil driver and 1,000 watts of Class D 
amplification of the DB45 is deemed a more natural 
fit for the 700 Series - and even without the dual woofer 
arrangement of the DBxD models, it still claims a low-end 
reach of 10Hz at -3dB. 

As well as requiring you to puff out your cheeks and 
make a grunting noise as you heave it into position, it’s 
a smart sub, too, packing a digital preamp section with 
automatic dynamic EQ, plus the option of Room EQ and 
custom/preset modes via B&W's DB Subwoofer app 
(which also allows for level control via your smartphone). 
The finish is piano black gloss here, of course, but the 
700 Series’ other styles (gloss white and Rosewood) 
are also available. 

Finally, the all-important centre speaker. The FITM71 S2 
is a sizable, three-way, rear-vented job, with a pair of 6.5in 
bass drivers, 4in Continuum FST midrange unit and, yet 
again, that new-tech carbon dome tweeter. There’s a 



HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 








REVIEWS 51 


smaller two-way HTM72 in the 700 Series armoury but, 
to be honest, I like the look (and weight) of this one. 

I should mention the very well made and finished 
FS-700 S2 stands for the 705 S2s (actually, they can be 
used with any of the 700 Series standmounts). I stuck with 
my own ancient Slate Audio stands for an initial stereo 
audition, but with the whole setup then moved to my 
bigger cinema room, I have to admit the dedicated B&W 
stands do look a good deal smarter, if not quite as chunky. 

Rolling thunder, pouring rain 

EQ-ing the beefy DB4S for this large space proved a 
doddle, especially with the smartphone app to guide you. 
And, what with the generous internal volume and three 
bass drivers of the 702 S2s, together with the more than 
ample oomph of my Denon AVR-X4300 receiver, I have 
a hunch rumbling bass isn’t going to be a problem. 

So, in the spirit of thunder and lightning, cue the Blu-ray 
of Thor: Ragnarok, not least because the audio track has 
attracted some stick in these pages for sounding strangely 
hemmed in and underwhelming, a comparatively muted 
accompaniment to the larger-than-life, butt-kicking action 
on screen. Well, all I can say is, I didn’t really notice. When 
Thor and Surtur go for it in the opening scenes, I can almost 
feel the heat and flying embers. 

Let me put it another way. B&W's 700 Series 5.1 is 
simply immense - system Viagra for a sagging soundtrack, 
an open window for Dunkirk- level awesomeness when it 
presents (we’ll get to that film in a moment). It’s something 
of a truism that you can never have enough bandwidth and 
you can never have enough resolution, but there’s so much 
of each on tap here it’s hard to imagine needing more. 

Perhaps the most impressive thing is the sheer, 
unadulterated intelligibility. Everything is so easy to 
understand and plausible. It sounds as if stuff is in the 
room with you: palpable, tactile, full of texture, colour 
and dynamic life. 

Breaking it down, this speaker ensemble clearly has 
formidable resolving power and precision, seamless 
integration front-to-rear and a beautifully open, expressive 
and lucid mid-band. The clean, extended upper frequencies 
are naturally textured and free from grain, gloriously 
detailed yet unforced. And the size of the soundstage it’s 
capable of weaving - during the beach strafing of Dunkirk 
(Blu-ray) for example - almost defies belief. 

The subwoofer's most obvious contribution (apart 
from giving explosions compelling weight and violence 
and indulging the mixing engineer’s wildest infra-bass 
fantasies) is its seductively sumptuous yet supple quality 
with music. Bruno Mars’ Finesse (CD) has never sounded 
more full-on or, indeed, dripping in finesse. Tempo and 
rhythm, so often the downfall of AV speaker systems, 
is truly nailed here. 

It all comes together to thrilling and deeply satisfying 
effect with the Blu-ray of Blade Runner 2049. Opinions 
might differ over the film itself, but there can be no denying 
the potency and compound complexity of the film’s 
5.1 mix in the hands of this B&W setup. It’s immersive, 
powerful and yet incredibly subtle. During the sequence 
with Blade Runner K and his holographic girlfriend Joi 
on a rooftop (Chapter 2), the ambient falling rain is so 
convincing and the droplet splashes so specific and varied 
(acquiring a hollow metallic ring when they fall on an 
unseen drainpipe over your shoulder, for instance), 
it actually gave me a little shiver. 


SPECIFICATIONS 
B&W 702 S2 

DRIVEUNITS: 1 x lin Carbon Dome tweeter; 1 x 6in Continuum cone midrange driver; 

3 x 6.5in Aerofoil profile bass drivers ENCLOSURE: Twin-ported (rear) FREQUENCY 
RESPONSE (CLAIMED): 45Hz-28kHz SENSITIVITY (CLAIMED): 9QdB POWER HANDLING 
(CLAIMED): 30W-300W DIMENSIONS: 200(w) x 1.087(h) x 337(d)mm 
WEIGHT: 29.5kg 

B&W HTM71S2 

DRIVEUNITS: 1 x lin Carbon Dome tweeter; 1 x 4in Continuum cone midrange driver; 

2 x 6.5in Aerofoil profile bass drivers ENCLOSURE: Rear-ported FREQUENCY 
RESPONSE (CLAIMED): 50Hz-28kHz SENSITIVITY (CLAIMED): 89dB POWER HANDLING 
(CLAIMED): 30W-100W DIMENSIONS: 590 (w) x225(h) x285(d)mm WEIGHT: 18.3kg 

B&W 705 S2 

DRIVEUNITS: 1 x lin Carbon Dome tweeter; 1 x 6.5in Continuum cone midbass driver 

ENCLOSURE: Ported FREQUENCY RESPONSE (CLAIMED): 50Hz-28kHz SENSITIVITY 
(CLAIMED): 88dB POWER HANDLING (CLAIMED): 30W-120W DIMENSIONS: 200 (w) x 

407(h) x285(d)mm WEIGHT: 9.3kg 

DB4S (subwoofer) 

DRIVE UNITS: 1 xlOin Aerofoil cone bass driver ENCLOSURE: Sealed FREQUENCY 
RESPONSE (CLAIMED): 10Hz-350Hz (-3dB) ONBOARD POWER (CLAIMED): 1,000W 
REMOTE CONTROL: No. (But control via DB Subwoofer app) DIMENSIONS: 360(w) x 
377(h) x368(d)mm WEIGHT:20kg FEATi/flES; Stereo XLR input; stereo phono 
input; 2 x 12V trigger; RS-232; digital preamp with Dynamic EQ; app-based setup 


DUNKIRK: This WW2 drama 
featured our favourite 
Blu-ray soundmix of 2017, 
a massively detailed and 
precise DTS-HD MA 5.1 track 
that dovetails perfectly with 
the onscreen visuals. It gets 
the best out of B&W's 
premium package. 



At the other end of the decibel scale, the visceral 
intensity of the Las Vegas attack (Chapter 12) still has 
me flinching, even though I’ve watched the movie several 
times. The sub’s capacity for heavy-fisted damage is 
perfectly showcased as it teams up with the concrete- 
trashing transient surround effects to deliver mayhem and 
gathering rubble with extreme prejudice. Hans Zimmer and 
Benjamin Wallfisch’s post-Vangelis soundtrack has muscle 
and menace in equal measure, but also a gentle lilting 
beauty as Tears in Rain from the original Blade Runner is 
reprised in the final scene. It all leaves me exhilarated but 
rather exhausted. 


2. Both floorstander 
and standmount 
models feature 
decoupled tweeters 


3. Got spare amp 
channels? The B&W 
700 Series speakers 
can be bi-wired 


4. The HTM71 centre 
speaker is a three-way 
driver design 


Hard to beat 

It’s tempting to label this speaker system a diminishing 
returns special. Yes, it’s possible to put together an even 
more resolute/dynamic/musical speaker package (one 
based around B&W’s 800 Series would do the trick) but 
I reckon you’d need to spend much, much more to achieve 
any significant improvement. £7,500 is a lot of money but, 
honestly, it doesn’t get much better than this ■ 


HCC VERDICT 

★★★★★ 

B&W700Series 5.1 



£7,350 www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk 


Not for the faint of heart or tight of space, but this 
system's bold style and superb sonics win the day. Even at this 
price, the 700 Series 5.1 is fine value. 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 
















DENON AVC-X850OH £3,300 


Richard Stevenson finds 13 reasons 
to fall in love with this big Denon amp 

AU guns 
blazing 

Denon’s AVC-X8500H has taken the AV amplifier 
concept and turned it up to 11. Well, more than that 
actually. With a claimed 1,950W spread through its 
13 independent channels, plus every key AV feature 
currently available, this is the undisputed champion 
of AV specification trumps. But do you need so many 
channels of power on tap? 

Yes, as it turns out. While you can divert some of those 
powered channels to a second or third stereo zone, the real 
magic is what they can do in your cinema. 

Object-based audio formats map sound into your room, 
making the most of however many speakers you have. 

The more the merrier. Or, rather, the more speakers, 
the more accurate the positioning of effects and more 
believable the ambience of the movie. Dolby Atmos uses 
up to 64 speakers in commercial cinemas, although that 
might be trickier to pull off in your home theatre. 

Starting with a typical 11-channel (7.2.4) setup, this 
new Denon allows you to add an extra two channels with 
a number of different placement options. Using them as 
front height channels for 7.2.6 could have real benefits in 
bolstering front-end solidity. If you have got a very wide 
room, you could configure them as front-width channels 
in a 9.2.4 set up to ensure a spacious front soundstage. 

The Denon’s options are copious but not endless. Within 
the initial menu you do have a finite number of speaker 
configurations to choose from and that could mean some 
fudging is required. I could not simply add front height 
speakers to my existing 7.2.4 configuration, which uses four 
overhead ceiling speakers. The nearest I could set in the 
menu was front-height, mid-top and rear-height speakers. 

There are several more unusual configuration options - 
including Auro-based setups - but it is not always obvious 
how to marry the amp’s configuration to your layout. 

And there are bugs in the setup that need ironing out. 
For example, you can set six in-ceiling ‘top’ speakers but 
that disables Surround Back, so you only get 11 channels. 

I also managed to establish a five-channel/surround back/ 
eight height-channel config, which to those with a spare 
hand for some extra fingers, is 15 channels. Flmmm. 

While there are 15 sets of terminals on the back, just 
to add to the confusion, it’s not until you navigate to the 



13-channel 
networked AV 
amplifier 


POSITION 


Top of the 2018 
Denon range 


Anthem MRX1120; 
Denon AVR-X6400H; 
Pioneer SC-LX901 


7. Might it be time for a 
Denon remote revamp? 


2 There's little visual 
difference between 
this and the X6400H 



HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 


















REVIEWS 



















54 REVIEWS 



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amplifier assignment page that you discover the AVC- 
X8500H has disabled the SB channels. The advantage 
of the 15 terminals, however, is that you could switch 
between an Atmos-style configuration (top speakers) 
and an Auro-3D one (height speakers) much more easily 
than on previous Auro-enabled Denon models. 

The irony in all this speaker menu confusion is that 
with object-based audio formats, it really shouldn’t matter 
where you place your speakers within reason. Top-spec 
hardware should simply measure the room and calculate 
where your speakers are, rather than have to be told. 

Gripe over, though, because outside of that setup 
malarkey, this Denon is a proper stunner. 

No more twiddling the dial 

When it comes to features, I'll begin with what the 
AVC-X8500H doesn't have. This is a short list, and it’s an 
AM/FM tuner. As Denon’s naming nomenclature testifies, 
the AVC-X8500H is not an AVR. Denon has taken the 
decision to oust the FM tuner section completely, so in the 
strictest sense this is no longer a receiver. We'll gloss over 
that the amp's internet radio tuner can access thousands 
of stations, including all your FM favourites. And the fact 
that the front display window proudly states 'AV Surround 
Receiver' when you boot it up. 

Back to what it does offer, and the spec sheet runs long. 
This is a 13.2-channel AV amplifier, armed with Atmos, 
DTS:X and Auro-3D and able to passthrough 4K FIDR. 

It offers networked streaming, Apple Airplay, HEOS 
multiroom integration and an 8-in, 3-out HDMI stage. 
Other connections are gold-plated and comprehensive. 

Build quality is fabulous and the Denon looks just as 
good underneath the hood. In here you'll find 32-bit 
AKM AK4490EQ DACs and a powerful DSP engine based 
on a pair of SHARC dual-core chipsets. No surprise, then, 
that the X8500H is a fairy large and heavy beast, and it 

HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 


runs quite toasty warm when pushed, so allow for plenty 
of ventilation space. 

Setup and room EQ is courtesy of Audyssey’s MultEQ 
XT32 FIR-based filter system (not 'parametric' as I have 
stated erroneously recently...). More advanced EQ tools can 
be unlocked if you invest in the Audyssey Editor app. 

Control is via the familiar Denon backlit LCD remote, 
the Denon 2016 AVR Remote app, the Denon HEOS app or, 
once Amazon Alexa voice control via the Smart Home Skill 
arrives through firmware, simply shouting at it. 

Other expected touches include IP and RS-232 control 
for custom installs. There's also the ability to control the 
X8500H with your TV's remote, and a dedicated Smart 
Menu onscreen. After a couple of weeks with the amp I also 
grew to like the Quick Select keys. These tie up sources and 
their preferred sound modes at the touch of a single button. 


Solid as a rock 

Yeah, but how does it sound? Quite, quite amazing in fact. 
This Denon is clean, punchy and dynamic with a solidity to 











































































REVIEWS 55 


its imaging that makes even 
two-channel recordings sound 
wonderfully three-dimensional. 

The balance is neutral but 
lacks nothing in grunt and drive 
when the volume knob gets 
turned to the right. That 
gorgeously crafted power supply, 
visible through the casework, 
supplies all those channels 
with enough juice not to run 
out of steam when the going 
gets tough. 

Using a 7.2.6 setup with 
front height channels, the 
Denon mapped Atmos-encoded 
material efficiently onto every 
speaker. And those front heights 
really worked well in filling the 
void above the screen in my fairly 
long but narrow room. 

Doing A/B comparisons with 
and without the front heights 
in play is a palaver involving 
reconfiguring the speaker menu, 
but is also quite an eye-opener. 
Largescale panning sequences 
like the planes going overhead 
in Unbroken (Blu-ray) benefit 
greatly. The aircraft seem to start further away in the 
front distance before they get closer, or disappear further 
into the foreground when heading in the other direction. 

Dialogue was improved too, the effect reminding 
me very much of Audyssey’s DSX front-height channel 
implementation. With my centre speaker set on a low 
stand, both systems effectively pull the dialogue upwards, 
which better centres voices on the screen. 

Moreover, the additional front heights deliver a much 
greater sensation of three-dimensional sound generally, 
increasing spatial height well above the listening plane. 
Even with action-fest movies like Justice League 
(Blu-ray), where the sound director was clearly paid 
on a decibel-per-speaker basis, the effect is noticeable 
in enlarging the soundstage. 

The insect-like wings of the Parademons are particularly 
impressive. Their fast, flighty movement is crafted with 
amazing precision in the room, and with your eyes closed 
you can virtually point to a creature’s intended location. 
They also seemed to fly higher than when running the 
system as simply 7.2.4. In short, I found having extra 
speakers to fill the void behind and above the main front 
array mightily useful in my setup. With a bigger space, 
could adding them as additional front width channels 
create a similar effect in bolstering the horizontal scale 
of the soundstage? Quite possibly. 

From 5 to 13 

Thanks to the Denon’s cracking processing, mapping more 
mundane sound formats onto this mighty 13-channel 
system is equally fun. Having originally bought the 3D BD 
of Justice League only to discover it packed a vanilla Dolby 
Digital 5.1 mix, it was fairly easy to compare the two discs. 
The genuine Atmos sound wins comfortably, but the 
AVC-X8500H is a master of upscaling 5.1 platters into 
something resembling immersive 3D audio. Switching to 



SPECIFICATIONS 

DOLBY ATMOS: Yes DTS:X: Yes THX: No MULTICHANNEL INPUT: Yes. 7.1 phono audio 
inputs MULTICHANNEL PRE-OUT: Yes. 15.2-channel MULTICHANNEL OUTPUT 
(CLAIMED): 13 x 150W (into 8 ohms) MULTIROOM: Yes. Zone 2 and 3 AVINPUTS: 

4 x composite; 4 x digital audio (2 x coaxial, 2 x optical) HDMI: Yes. 8 x inputs; 3 x 
outputs COMPONENT VIDEO: Yes. 3 x inputs; 1 x output VIDEO UPSCALING: Yes. To 4K 
DIMENSIONS: 434(w) x 482(d) x 195(h)mm WEIGHT: 23.3kg 

FEATURES: Audyssey MultEQ XT32 calibration; Auro-3D processing; hi-res audio file 
playback; Wi-Fi; Ethernet; Bluetooth; Tuneln radio; Apple AirPlay; HEOS multiroom 
integration; USB input; Audyssey Editor App compatible; Android and iOS app 
control; Amazon Alexa voice control (via future firmware); mono-block power amp 
construction; compressed audio restorer 


PARTNER WITH 



OPPO UDP-205: Tag team 
Denon's impressive AV amp 
with an equally impressive 
beast of a Blu-ray player. This 
audiophile Oppo (£1,400) 
supports Dolby Vision 4K 
playback, physical and digital 
hi-res audio, and smuggles in 
a headphone amp, too. 


the Peony Pavilion scene in the DVD of House of Flying 
Daggers - another Dolby Digital 5.1 mix - and this amp 
brings it alive with added space and punch right down 
to the lowest registers of my subwoofers. 

(With such older discs I preferred Dolby Surround’s 
slightly cleaner and open take on the effect rather than 
the heavier upmix of DTS Neural:X, but your mileage 
may vary). 

Yet it is with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X material that 
the Denon really shows its mettle as the class-leading 
AV amp of the moment. Spin anything and it beguiles. 

The Atmos track on La La Land (UHD Blu-ray) is woefully 
shy when it comes to height information throughout, yet 
the AVC-X8500H digs into the soundtrack’s subtleties 
and nuances with ease. Dialogue is crisp and articulate; 
the musical numbers are funky and infectious. Some 
scenes in particular are so successful at evoking the mellow 
feeling of an LA jazz club that I almost booked myself 
a flight out there. 


3. As a sign of its 
complexity, this 
13-channel amp offers 
15 speaker terminals 


4. Lift the flap to 
reveal an HDMI input, 
plus headphone and 
setup mic sockets 


Meet the new boss 

After a few weeks it was patently clear that Denon’s 
new model sets the current benchmark for integrated 
AV amplifiers and does so at a relatively affordable price. 

Try to get this level of functionality anywhere else and 
you'll face a higher bill and a separate processor/power 
amp(s) combination to wrestle with. 

It's a brilliant addition to Denon's portfolio, but you 
have to decide if you really need it. Whether 13 channels are 
going to work for you significantly better than 11 channels 
may well depend on the size and shape of your listening 
environment. For my long, narrow room, adding front height 
speakers was night and day better ■ 


HCC VERDICT 

★★★★★ 

Denon AVC-X8500H 



£3,300 www.denon.co.uk 


Denon’s feature-packed 13-channel AV amplifier is 
complex to set up but delivers the most immersive surround 
sound yet from a single box. 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


























5G VIVITEK HK2288 £2,500 



projector with HDR 


POSITION: 


Currently the most 
premium Vivitek 
projector available 
in the UK 


PEERS: 


Optoma UHD60; 
Epson EH-TW9300 


Vivitek's handset is 
brightly backlit and 
sensibly laid out 


2.TheHK2288isthe 
brand's 4K DLP debut 


Vivitek’s first 4K projector puts the brand 
back on the map, suggests John Archer 


Mid-priced 
4K marvel 



After finding it difficult in the past to maintain a consistent 
foothold in the UK’s notoriously tough home cinema/media 
room projection market, Taiwanese brand Vivitek now has a 
committed distributor keen to show British movie fans what 
its DLP models can do. Which, on the evidence of the well- 
priced HK2288, is a heck of a lot. 



This projector is the latest in a rapidly growing line of 
affordable 4K DLP models using Texas Instruments’ XPR 
fast-switching technology. The imaging chip isn't native 
4K (it incorporates 4.15m mirrors), but Tl's proprietary 
processing claims to deliver two discrete pixels for each 
mirror - resulting in a 4K picture. From my experience, 
the technology gets closer to a true 4K experience than 
any rival ‘pseudo’ technology - and has been certified as 
'real 4K' by America’s Consumer Technology Association. 

The best thing about 4K DLP technology from a 
consumer point of view is its affordability. The Vivitek 
HK2288 sets you back just £2,500, and supports 
playback of the industry standard high dynamic 
range HDR10 format. Even more affordable rivals 
are now coming to market, of course... 

Sizing it up 

The projector is small enough not to overwhelm 
either a typical coffee table or your ceiling, but 
isn't of the compact, portable ilk. Curved edges 
give it a classy appearance, while side-mounted 
vents link to its internal cooling fans - be aware 
that these make a fair bit of noise with the lamp 
set to Boost mode for HDR playback. 

Connections are found on the rear panel. 

Unusually, there are three HDMI inputs, and 
each of these can accommodate 18Gbps data 
streams. There’s also a USB port for powering 
a Chromecast or other streaming dongle, and 
a 3.5mm audio output (the projector carries 
a built in 10W mono speaker). However, there's 
no 12V trigger output, which is a potential 
deal-breaker for anyone already running an 
automated screen setup. 

Accompanying the PJ is one of the more 
helpful remote controls I've encountered. 


It's a comfortable size, and its well labelled buttons light 
up brightly when pressed. 

Setup flexibility is fair for the price, but not outstanding. 
Optical zoom extends to 1.5x (providing a 1.39-2.09:1 throw 
ratio), and is joined by vertical image shifting. Focusing your 
picture is done via an impressively responsive lever on the 
lens’s front. 

The HK2288’s onscreen menus aren’t very intuitively 
organised, but do contain enough adjustments to keep 
tweakers happy if you hunt them down. And hunt them 
down you should, for two main reasons. 

Play time 

First, out of the box my pictures contained 
a fairly distinct green tone that needed to be 
dialled away. Second, to get the best out of 
the HK2288 you’ll need to commit to changing 
its HDR settings pretty regularly. With its 
reasonably high claimed brightness of 2,000 
Lumens and promising claimed contrast ratio 
of 1,000,000:1, the HK2288 is more capable 
than arguably any sub-£3,000 projector of 
making HDR fun to watch. But only if you put 
in some legwork. 

For instance, if you’re watching an Ultra HD 
Blu-ray that’s been mastered at 1,000 nits 
or less of peak brightness (as most are), you 
can get away with selecting the ‘Normal HDR’ 
picture preset. If, however, you’re watching 
a title that’s been mastered at a higher peak 
luminance level, you should use the 'Detail 
HDR' setting, and additionally reduce the 
brightness and contrast levels (to around 43 
and 46 respectively). 

With this in mind, it would be nice if the 
HK2288 does as JVC’s latest projectors do, > 


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HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 
















REVIEWS 




MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


HOME 

CINEMA 

Choice 

RECOMMENDED 














58 REVIEWS 



and tell you what peak brightness each 4K Blu-ray disc 
has been mastered to. But it doesn’t. So all there is to go 
on is that Warner and Universal titles are more likely to 
be mastered to 4,000 nits than titles from other studios. 
As are titles that carry a Dolby Vision master (even 
though the HK2288 can’t decode Dolby Vision’s dynamic 
metadata). I appreciate that this is hardly a bulletproof 
method. You may then want to have a quick look at a 4K 
HDR movie and adjust your settings before settling down 
to watch it in earnest. 

All aboard the HDR train 

Any effort you put into optimising the HK2288 for each 
title is rewarded with some excitingly good picture quality. 
There's a lush brightness here that's particularly 
impressive. The snowy exteriors of Murder on the Orient 
Express (4K Blu-ray) enjoy a high baseline luminance that 
appears much punchier than the picture you get when 
watching the same scenes from the SDR 1080p Blu-ray. 
There’s also noticeably more intensity to the brightest 
parts of the picture - such as the direct shot of the sun 
in the film's opening sequence, or the various electric 
light sources on the titular train. One shot of a small train 
station at night also contains a wider range of light from 
the image’s darkest to brightest parts than budget 4K 
projectors usually muster. 

This brightness opens up Murder ...’s rich colour palette 
beyond the reach of the HD Blu-ray - despite the fact 
there doesn’t appear to be anything about the HK2288’s 
RGBRGB colour wheel and optical system that should 
support a wide colour presentation. 

Variations in light are well balanced during HDR viewing. 
As Poirot walks along the roof of the train against a very 
bright backdrop of snow and sunshine, there are still 
healthy levels of colour information and detail in his 
relatively dark, foregrounded form. He doesn’t just become 
a flat silhouette. 

Overall black level performance isn’t brilliant, however; 
dark scenes tend to look quite grey. This is par for the 
course at this level of the HDR projector market, though, 
and doesn’t stop the HK2288 from providing plenty of 
detail in Murder ...'s night-time scenes. 

During my initial few hours with the projector, I was 
concerned by how much it could ‘clip’ (lose colour and 
detail in) the very brightest image areas. This is where my 
earlier advice about adapting the projector to different 


SPECIFICATIONS 

3D: No 4K: Yes. 3,840 x 2,160 HDR: Yes. HDR10 CONNECTIONS: 3 x HDMI inputs; 
powered USB; 3.5mm audio output; RS-232 BRIGHTNESS (CLAIMED): 2,000 Lumens 
CONTRAST (CLAIMED): 1,000,000:1 ZOOM: 1.5x DIMENSIONS: 430(w) x 145(h) x 
360(d)mm WEIGHT: 9kg 

FEATURES: Single-chip DLP projection system; 10W built-in mono speaker; 35dB 
cooling noise in Normal lamp mode; 5,000/3,000-hour lamp-life in Default/Boost 
lamp modes; multiple HDR presets; colour management; vertical image shifting; 
1.39-2.09:1 throw ratio; infrared sensors for remote operation from front/behind 


PARTNER WITH 

MURDER ON THE ORIENT 

EXPRESS: Kenneth Branagh's 
recent Agatha Christie 
adaptation suffers from 
some awkward 'action' 
moments, but offers an 
image on 4K HDR Blu-ray 
that makes them easy 
to ignore... 



HDR material comes in. If you opt for a more reined-in 
light output when viewing the brightest HDR content, the 
clipping reduces dramatically. And if you’re careful enough 
with the settings, you can achieve this without the picture 
becoming depressingly dark. 

The HK2288 delivers even the smallest, brightest 
light peaks of HDR pictures while suffering only very slightly 
with DLP’s colour striping ‘rainbow effect’. And despite 
clearly being tuned with HDR in mind, it adapts very well 
to standard dynamic range playback where an HDR 
source isn’t available. SDR colours still look nuanced 
and authentic, and - as you’d hope from a projector 
capable of handling HDR brightness levels so well - the 
HK2288 has no problem picking out contrast subtleties 
from SDR sources. 

The agility of its light production, together with little 
sign of single-chip DLP projectors’ common fizzing noise 
issues and some natural-looking motion handling, also 
helps the HK2288 sell its 4K claims. The weave of 
Poirot’s exquisite suits and each hair of his extraordinary 
moustache are beautifully rendered from the film’s crisp, 
clean 4K Blu-ray image. 


3. Zoom and lens shift 
controls are mounted 
on the PJ's top surface 


Welcome back 

Certainly, Vivitek's HK2288 has a few foibles - the built-in 
speaker doesn’t have the scale or projection to be a 
convincing accompaniment to the HK2288’s pictures, 
for instance; the absence of a 12V trigger is puzzling; 
and similarly priced models such as Epson's EH-TW7300 
offer far greater control over where the PJ can be placed 
in your room. On the other hand, this projector beguiles 
with its overall HDR image quality, and is exactly the 
sort of forward-thinking, aggressively priced and high- 
performance model Vivitek needed to consolidate 
its re-emergence on the UK home cinema market. 
Consider me impressed ■ 


HCC VERDICT 

★★★★★ 

Vivitek HK2288 



£2,500 www.karma-av.co.uk 


So long as you invest a little time in it, Vivitek’s HK2288 
delivers as assured an HDR and 4K picture performance as any 
affordable DLP projector we’ve seen. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 














Now with more-depth 
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SAMSUNG QE65Q9FN £3,800 


Justice League on 
4KBD finds The 
Flash ready for 
the fight, 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 


BACKGROUND IMAGE: BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/NOREEFLY 





















































































REVIEWS 


John Archer is reminded that OLED isn't 
the only premium TV technology in town 


QLED TV 

fights back 


AVINFO 


65in4KQLEDTV 
with HDR10+ 

Currently Samsung's 
top-of-the-range TV 


PEERS: 


Sony KD-65ZD9; 
LG OLED65E7; 
Sony KD-65A1 


Samsung probably thought when it unveiled its debut 
QLED displays last year that they’d take the world by storm. 
Surely punters wouldn’t be able to resist the unprecedented 
brightness and colour range delivered by the brand’s new 
metal-clad Quantum Dots? But things didn’t turn out that way. 
Instead, rival OLED sets, bolstered by performance tweaks and 
wider availability, became the year’s ‘must-have’ TV item. 


The TV is also 
offered in 55in and 
75in screen sizes 


2. A direct backlight 
gives the QE65Q9FN 
a bit of bulk 


Samsung doesn’t seem to have liked this very 
much. How do I know? Because it’s responded with the 
QE65Q9FN: the best, most futureproofed TV I’ve yet seen. 

This pricey 65in flagship emphatically addresses the 
chief issue that hindered the QLED charge last year: 
backlighting. All of the brand's TVs in 2017 featured 
edge LED arrays, but the QE65Q9FN uses more precise 
direct lighting with local dimming. Samsung doesn't 
specify the exact number of individually controllable 
zones, but I think it's around 400-500, a comprehensive 
amount that should limit the potential for backlight 
halos/striping cluttering an image. 

Samsung has also implemented a new processing 
technique that gradually reduces the intensity of a 
dimming zone’s light as it approaches its edges, which 
should also make defined clouds of light around very 
bright objects less obvious. 

There have been improvements to the company's 
proprietary metal-clad QLED Quantum Dots, too, 
resulting in a claimed increase in colour purity and range 
- a full 100 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour space, in fact. 

Double whammy 

These upgrades are delivered while retaining two unique 
strengths of 2017’s QLED models: extreme brightness 
and remarkable anti-reflection filtering. This screen can 
hit brightness peaks on a 10 per cent white HDR window 
of 2,400 nits, which is the highest figure I’ve seen on a 
consumer television. The screen filter, meanwhile, soaks 
up ambient light and reflections from your viewing room 
with real efficiency. There’s probably no other TV around 
that’s as watchable in a bright living room environment. 

Samsung has bolstered its smart TV system 
for 2018. For instance, there’s now ‘Smart 
Things’ support for monitoring/controlling 


compatible appliances on your home network, such as 
fridges or robot vacuum cleaners. And more effort has 
been made to include broadcast TV in the TV's content 
browsing, searching and recommendations utilities. 

An onboard Freeview HD tuner is joined by support for 
the UK’s main broadcast catch-up TV apps, as well as 
4K and HDR versions of Amazon, Netflix and YouTube. 

An excellent voice recognition system, meanwhile, 
provides both control over your TV and spoken-word 
access to a decent universal search system. 

As is the norm with Samsung, connections here 
are located on an external box. 

Physically, the flatscreen QE65Q9FN has a rather 
unremarkable silver/grey square-edge design, but at 
least this provides a nondescript frame for a new 
energy-efficient ‘Ambient Mode’, which lets you fill 
the screen with preloaded digital artwork - or one 
of your own photos - when you’re not watching it. 

You could even take a photograph of your wall and 
place that in the TV’s screen to really minimise the 
Samsung's impact on your decor... 

Possibly this screen's only feature weakness is its 
lack of support for Dolby Vision HDR. Instead you get 
HDR10, HLG and the relatively new HDR10+ format. 

This could be a deal-breaker for some buyers. 
However, bear in mind that none of the TVs that 
support Dolby Vision will, it seems, support the 
rival HDR10+ format. You need to make a choice. 

Direct appeal 

Does the switch to direct lighting with local 
dimming transform Samsung’s QLED 
fortunes? You’d better believe it. 

Straight away it's clear that this 
set's black levels are leagues ahead of > 



MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 
















































6 REVIEWS 



0 


those of any 2017 QLED model. The QE65Q9FN delivers 
black colours that give OLED a run for its money, even 
with mixed images where inky blackness is shattered by 
luminance peaks. This means the final scrap between 
the assembled heroes and Steppenwolf in the 4K Blu-ray 
of Justice League looks nothing short of mindblowing; 
a tapestry of incredibly intense HDR whites and colours, 
and rich blacks. 

And the QE65Q9FN can convey Justice League’s 
searing highlights against dark backdrops with scarcely 
a hint of backlight blooming. In fact, I believe it does a 
better job of controlling light around standout objects 

‘Samsung has reminded us 
how good LED TVs can be 
- this offers the best 4K HDR 
picture quality I've ever seen' 

than any other LCD TV to date, including Sony’s stunning 
ZD9 models. Such ruthless backlight control and 
inherent brightness (more than double that of any 
OLED) results in a gloriously dynamic, contrast-rich 
experience. The screen's peak luminance and canny 
processing also ensure intense details - such as the 
harsh lights in Bruce Wayne’s jet - look believable rather 
than clipped and hollow. 


SPECIFICATIONS 

3D; No 4K: Yes. 3,840x2,160 HDR: Yes. HDR10; HDR10+; HLG TUNER: Yes. Freeview 
HD; satellite HD CONNECTIONS: 4 x HDMI inputs; 3 x USB; RF input; Ethernet; AV 
input; optical audio output SOUND (CLAIMED): 40W BRIGHTNESS (CLAIMED): 2,000 
nits CONTRAST RATIO (CLAIMED): N/A DIMENSIONS (OFF STAND):! ,405 (w) x 830(h) 
x39(d)mm WEIGHT (OFF STAND): 26.7kg 

FEATURES: USB multimedia playback and recording; Q Processing engine; Smart 
Things smart home support; Eden 2.0 smart system; voice recognition and control; 
Ambient Mode for low-powered screen saver; direct lighting with hundreds of 
dimming zones; QLED technology; 4K HDR VOD apps; One Connect box 


PARTNER WITH 

_ SAMSUNG HW-K950: 

The HW-K950 is approaching 
two years old but remains 
the A-lister in Samsung's 
cast of soundbars. Atmos- 
enabled, with wireless rears 
and subwoofer for a 5.1.4 
array, this £1,200 system 
sounds sublime. 



Rounding out this TV's picture charms are a slightly 
expanded viewing angle (but by no means the best 
around), precise and controlled standard dynamic range 
playback, and an improved version of Samsung’s HDR+ 
system, which converts standard dynamic range content 
to something approaching HDR. 

It’s not possible yet to do any meaningful comparisons 
between HDR10+ and other HDR formats, given that the 
only HDR10+ source available is currently Amazon Video. 
Shows such as The Grand Tour do look unprecedentedly 
good on the QE65Q9FN, though. I suspect this TV's core 
image quality is a factor here, of course. 

There are a few areas where Samsung could maybe do 
more. I couldn’t find any combination of motion processing 
features that delivered motion as natural as that available 
on Sony’s new XF9005 TV (see page 40). And very 
occasionally parts of an image can flicker quite obviously, 
as if the TV is struggling to decide which backlighting setup 
to use. Samsung claims to be working on a fix for this. 

Lastly, I found details being marginally crushed out of 
the picture during dark scenes while using the TV’s presets 
(except for, perhaps, the Movie one). This is fairly easily 
remedied by nudging up the picture’s Gamma. 

On a final positive note, this is a powerful audio 
performer. Its hidden speakers have healthy volume and 
dynamic range, a decent low-end, and create a coherent 
sense of audio space that extends well beyond the TV’s 
physical boundaries. 


3. The desktop stand 
doubles as a conduit 
for the One Connect 
'near invisible 1 cable 


The colour of magic 

Next up: colour. This 65-incher proves sensational when 
it comes to unlocking the impact of Justice League’s 
expansive palette. Tones across the board are fantastically 
vibrant, benefitting from the colour 'volume' on tap. But 
they're stable and balanced too, as opposed to simply 
pushed, and the screen displays the smallest tonal shift 
or subtle blend. This raises the feeling of innate sharpness 
and detail of 4K content. 

The QE65Q9FN handles HDR colour blends - even 
the difficult-to-manage white clouds around the aliens 
in Arrival (Ultra HD Blu-ray) - without any sign of the 
distracting striping interference witnessed on previous 
Samsung generations. 


Let battle commence 

With the QE65Q9FN, Samsung has reminded us how 
good LED TVs can be. Put simply, it offers the best 4K HDR 
picture quality I've ever seen - and ups its appeal via a 
well-engineered smart platform and user-friendly features. 
The battle for the future of television is back on ■ 


HCC VERDICT 

★★★★★ 

Samsung QE65Q9FN 



£3, 800Hwww.samsung.co.uk 


Unprecedented colour and brightness combine with the 
LED world’s best backlight controls to deliver the finest HDR 
pictures seen to date. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 













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64 LG UP970/£170 


Why so Blu? 

Does a long overdue Dolby Vision firmware update give 
this affordable 4K deck a boost over the competition? 
Steve May isn't convinced 


A front USB port enables 
flash drive media playback 


SPECIFICATIONS 

ULTRA HD: Yes HDR: Yes. HDR10; Dolby Vision 

UPSCALING: Yes. To 2160p MULTIREGION: No, 

Region B BD/R2 DVD HDMI: Yes. 2 x outputs 
(one audio-only) COMPONENT VIDEO: No 
MULTICHANNEL ANALOGUE: No DIGITAL 
AUDIO: Yes. Optical audio output 
ETHERNET: Yes BUILT IN WI-FI: Yes 
SACD/DVD-A: No/No DIMENSIONS: 430(w) x 
45(h) x205(d)mm WEIGHT: 1.63kg 

FEATURES: USB port; smart portal with 
Netflix and YouTube 4K apps; setup wizard; 
file support includes MPEG, MKV, MOV, MP3, 
AIFF, AAC, FLAC, WAV, OGG and WMA 



LG MAY HAVE relentlessly pursued the 
premium end of the TV market with its 4K 
OLED and LED models, but the UP970 is very 
much cut from the same budget cloth as its 
previous 2K Blu-ray offerings. 

The player is full-width (430mm) but thin. 
It's anonymously smart, although clearly a 
commodity product. Don't expect to find the 
same level of build quality here as on Oppo’s 
premium Dolby Vision players. It's more akin 
to the Panasonic DMP-UB300 and Samsung 
UBD-K8500. 


As is LG's long-standing want, the UP970 
has little stick-on transport buttons 
positioned beside a front-facing USB port 
disguised by a tethered cover. There's no 
on-body status display, just very discreet 
green and red LEDs. 

The rear of the deck is similarly stripped 
back. There are two HDMI outputs, with the 
second designated audio-only for use with 
non-4K capable AV receivers. There's also 
an optical digital audio output, plus Ethernet 
to accompany 


AVINFO 

PRODUCT. 


Bargain-priced 4K 
disc player with 
Dolby Vision support 


i mm 

LG's solo Dolby 
Vision player 


Panasonic 
DMP-UB300; 
Samsung UBD-K8500 


integrated Wi-Fi. 

The supplied 
IR remote control 
is short and dumpy. 
And operationally this 
player leaves a lot to 
be desired. The USB 
reader, for instance, 
seems unnecessarily 
fussy. While some 
thumbdrives 
were recognised, 
others weren’t. 


The player's user interface will be familiar 
to owners of previous LG Blu-ray hardware, 
comprising a strip of horizontal graphics 
designated Movie, Photo, Music, Premium and 
Settings. Premium is where you'll find just two 
streaming services, Netflix and YouTube, both 
of which play in 4K. 

The settings menu is somewhat coy, and 
doesn’t proffer much control over what this 
deck can do. When it comes to display output, 
there's Auto or forced settings from 480p to 
2,160p, plus an HDMI colour option (YCbCr 
or RGB). There's no user definable bit-depth 
or chroma output. 

Picture performance is average - I noted 
artefacts vibrating on high-frequency 4K 
detail on UHD test platters. The player also 
appears to emphasise grain and noise. 

You can alter characteristics of the image, 
using the supplied output modes (Standard, 
Vivid, Movie and User, the latter allowing 
you to adjust contrast, brightness, colour 
and sharpness), but I certainly wouldn’t 
want to entrust image processing to this 
particular box. 

Dolby touches down 

The UP970 now supports both standard 
HDR10 and Dolby Vision, although the deck 
waited quite some time for DV to land (and 
did so after my review period). An early 
attempt to deploy firmware late last year was 
abandoned, when it inadvertently switched 
the region code of all players to the US. 

Bizarrely, I actually think the deck looks 
its best with standard Blu-rays. CG animation 
Astro Boy is all futuristic neon and deep 


colours, which the player handles well. 
Images are smooth without aliasing. 
Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line tries 
valiantly to maintain its lush hues. When the 
GIs land at Guadalcanal, there's band-free 
colour in the sky, sea and sand. The troops' 
helmets reveal pock marks and exhibit 
convincing texture. 

The UP970 itself isn't the quietest, being 
noticeably more noisy spinning UHD discs 
than standard Blu-rays and CDs. On the plus 
side, it’s at least a speedy loader. A menu- 
heavy movie disc goes from tray to menu in 
34 seconds, while a simple concert platter 
was up and running in just 25. 

CD playback is downright poor, with the 
UP970 making an indistinct hash of the 
soundstage. A classical suite of strings and 
oboe had a strange, phasey, drifting quality. 

Basically speaking 

After the best part of a year in limbo, the 
appeal of the UP970 now rests entirely on 
its Dolby Vision support and its bargain £170 
(or thereabouts) price tag. Unfortunately 
these factors alone don't make up for its 
many budget shortcomings. Image quality is 
below the best, build quality basic and audio 
performance underwhelming ■ 


HCC VER DICT ★★★★★ 


E£170 www.lg.com/uk 

T Compatible screen owners will be 
tempted by this budget deck's Dolby Vision 
playback, but overall it's uninspiring. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 























HITACHI 75HL16T64U/£1,350 


65 


Hitachi's XXL TV 


The size and price tag of this 4K HDR flatscreen certainly make 
it look tempting on paper. But can it keep its appeal once 
John Archer has put it through its paces? 



THE APPEAL OF the Argos-exclusive Hitachi 
75HL16T64U is brutally simple. It gives you 
75 inches of native 4K, HDR-capable pictures 
for just £1,350. It quickly becomes apparent, 
though, that its bigscreen bargain status 
comes with some pretty hefty performance 
strings attached. 

For starters, the design is largely uninspired. 
The frame is wider than most and wears a dull 
black finish, while its feet are just there to do 
a job rather than look stylish. 

The rear of the TV sports four carry handles 
- the first time I’ve seen these outside of the 
commercial display world for years. They do 
aid setup, though, even if they make wall¬ 
hanging the set pretty much impossible. 

Connections are decent for the 
75HL16T64U’s money, with highlights being 

three HDMI inputs and 
two USBs. Two of the 
HDMIs handle 4K HDR 
feeds, but they don’t 
have the capacity to 
retain HDR support 
when playing the 
60fps images of Billy 
Lynn’s Long Half-Time 
Walk (4K BD). The 
only HDR format 
supported is HDR10. 

Surprisingly for its 
price, this megascreen 


offers a decent smart TV platform that 
includes support for Netflix and YouTube, 
as well as the catch-up TV portals for all 
of the UK’s main services within the Freeview 
Play wrapper. 

The Netflix app supports 4K and HDR, 
but YouTube only seemed to work in HD SDR. 
Note that there’s currently no Amazon Video. 

Making hard work of HDR 

The most important thing you need to 
know about the 75HL16T64U’s picture 
performance is that it’s pretty much a bust 
with high dynamic range. The set can’t sustain 
nearly enough average or peak brightness 
to deliver a true HDR effect. It also clips quite 
severely, robbing the brightest HDR areas of 
almost all detail. 

Watching Elisa’s night-time journeys to 
work in The Shape Of Water on 4K Blu-ray 
reveals a pretty dramatic lack of contrast with 
HDR content. Dark areas appear washed out 
and grey, and there’s some obvious yellow 
backlight ‘creep’ in the corners and sides 
of the image. 

The Shape Of Water’s rich, thematic colour 
palette also catches the TV out. Despite 
the panel claiming to support a wide colour 
gamut, colours are flat, murky and unnatural. 
They’re affected, too, by an unpleasant 
yellowy undertone that I could find no means 
of completely calibrating away. 


AVINFO 


Affordable 75in LCD 
TV with 4K HDR 

S 

The most premium 
screen in Vestel’s 
Hitachi-branded 
UK range 


PEERS. 


Hisense 

H75N6800UK 


SPECIFICATIONS 

3D: No 4K; Yes. 3,840x2,160 
HDR: Yes. HDR10 TUNER: Yes. Freeview HD 
CONNECTIONS: 3 x HDMI inputs (2 x 4K/HDR 
capable); 2 x USB; RFInput; Ethernet SOUND 
(CLAIMED): N/A BRIGHTNESS (CLAIMED): 

N/A CONTRAST RATIO (CLAIMED): N/A 
DIMENSIONS (ONSTAND): l,684(w) x 1,026(h) 
x370(d)mm WEIGHT (ON STAND): 37kg 

FEATURES: Built-in Wi-Fi; USB multimedia 
playback; network multimedia playback; 
SmartVue smart engine; Freeview Play 
built-in; noise reduction; skin tone and 
colour shift options 


The smart platform includes a 4K HDR Netflix app 

While the set struggles badly with HDR, it’s 
better with 4K SDR than you might perhaps 
expect. Such pictures - as delivered, for 
instance, by Better Call Saul on Netflix - are 
crisp and sharp, and are impacted surprisingly 
little by motion blur. Colours gain a more 
natural feel, and, ironically, feel richer too. 

Black levels, though, are still a problem. 

So much so that it’s not just dark sequences 
that look greyed over; pretty much any 
interior scene has its colours muted and 
depth reduced by the amount of greyness 
pervading the screen. You can still see pools 
of excess lighting in the corners, too. 

Other issues noted during my tests 
were limited viewing angles, some so-called 
‘dirty screen effect’ during pans across bright 
skies or football pitches, and pretty basic 4K 
upscaling that leaves HD sources looking 
rather soft and noisy. 

The 75HL16T64U’s sound is respectable, 
however. It can go decently loud, benefits 
from a fair amount of bass, and handles 
treble details without sounding harsh. 

Sizing it up 

If you’re motivated by screen size and screen 
size alone, then thanks to its 4K sharpness 
and decent SDR colour performance, you 
could consider buying Hitachi's 75HL16T64U. 
Partner it with a product that’s good at 
stripping HDR out of 4K Blu-rays, such as one 
of Panasonic’s premium 4K players, or stick 
to an SDR diet, and the sheer vastness of 
its panel may make up for its average blacks. 

But an inability to handle HDR material 
in any pleasing way may lead to a reluctant 
conclusion no home cinema fan likes to 
reach: that sometimes size isn’t everything ■ 


HCC VERDICT 
Hitachi 75HL16T64U 


£1,350 www.argos.co.uk 


★★★★★ 


] While it’s better than you might expect 
with 4K sources, this megascreen comes a 
cropper with HDR and has average black levels. 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 































66 WWW.CELL0ELECTR0NICS.COM/E300 


Cello C32277T2 

There's no need to scare kids witless with campfire stories anymore, says Steve May 



THIS TV FROM UK manufacturer Cello 
isn’t just another portable. It’s battery- 
powered, which basically means you 
can take it on the road or install it in 
the garden on a balmy Summer night. 

Fully charged, Cello quotes an impressive 
10-hour usage when the screen runs on 
its most eco of settings. 

Everything you need, plus a bit more, 
is in the box. The set even comes with two 
long-lead LED lights which plug directly 
into the back. These are bright enough to 
illuminate a tent or patio. 

To the rear you’ll find two HDMIs and a PC 
VGA input. There are four USB ports, two for 
media playback or recording onto an external 
hard drive. The other two can recharge a 
smartphone, or power a streaming dongle 
if you’re setting up in a Wi-Fi hotspot. It's nice 
attention to detail. 

The onboard USB media player handles 
music and movies, provided the file types 


aren’t too fancy. I had no problem playing 
WMV, MPEG, AVI and MOVs, although MKVs 
weirdly played without audio. 

The panel resolution is720p, and contrast 
is rated at 4,000:1. Given that it isn’t 
intended for image-critical viewing, this is 
mostly fine - a bigger display might demand 
a Full HD pixel count, but would then be far 
less portable. 


There's a 22in model available too 

Picture vibrancy depends on your 
chosen Power Save mode. This offers 
a default option of 6-10 hours use, 
which significantly dims the screen, or 
4-6 hours use, which is a little brighter. 
There’s also a full-brightness Daytime 
mode. It’s only worth running the most 
economic of power modes when you 
really need the extended battery. 

The idea of a battery-powered TV 
may sound a bit nutty, but this package 
works flawlessly in the wild. Image quality 
isn't the major attraction, but the power 
saving options are generous and it has useful 
features. Caravanners should love it ■ 


HCC VERDICT ★★★★★ 


Cello C32277T2 

-* £300 ■ www.celloelectronics.com 


WWW.AIRPULSEAUDI0.COM/E800 

Airpulse Audio A200 

These speakers' premium build and ribbon tweeters have Steve May grinning all over 



WHILE THE BRAND may not be familiar, 
the designer behind Airpulse Audio might be. 
Phil Jones helped found British hi-fi outfit 
Acoustic Energy, and was responsible for 
a run of high-performing designs. These 
studio-style active monitor speakers are 
built from comparable sonic DNA. 

Build quality and cosmetics are 
unmistakably premium: the cherry wood 
cabinetry has a lush, satin-lacquer finish that 
is definitely living room friendly. 

Built into the enclosures are 5.5in midbass 
drivers with stiff aluminium cones, and 
horn-loaded ribbon tweeters. 

These tweeters are key to the Airpulse 
Audio A200’s outstanding detail. A CD rip 
of Blondie’s Sunday Girl is conveyed as fresh 
and punky; the scritch of guitar and percussive 
detail sounding as exciting as a night on the 
town in 1970s New York. 

Connectivity is good. The integrated amp 
on the 'master' speaker (which links to the 


'slave' via a supplied cable) 
links to two analogue inputs 
(one balanced), plus two 
digital (optical and coaxial) 
audio ports. There’s also 
Bluetooth aptX support for 
direct streaming. A claimed 
2 x 10W drives the ribbon 
tweeters, with 2 x 55W 
feeding the woofers. The rear 
panel section has volume, 
bass and treble knobs, all 
offering a tactile incremental 
movement. A remote makes 
source switching simple. 

While the A200s expend most of their 
energy above 50Hz, that doesn’t mean they 
can’t rock. Sweet Leaf {Black Sabbath), 
remastered in MQA for the Ten Year War 
boxset, is pure excitement with engaging 
stereo imaging. The speakers are high-res 
audio capable, handling signals up to 192kHz. 


Audition these if you want active speakers 
that outperform the usual wireless suspects 
when it comes to scale and resolution ■ 


HCC VERDICT ★★★★★ 


Airpulse Audio A200 

-» £800 www.airpulseaudio.com 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 














SAMSUNG 



tter. 

n simplicity. 




Our clever near-invisible optical cable makes it simple to connect 
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70 COMPETITION 



v system 

WORTH 

£ 1,0000 

OP FOR 

GRABS! 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 



















Q ACOUSTICS 7000i 5.1 SLIM 71 




Competition rules 

1. The first entry drawn at random will win the prize. 2. Only one entry per person/household; 
multiple entries will be discarded. 3. Entrants from the UK only. 4. Employees of MyTimeMedia 
Ltd and companies supplying competition prizes are not eligible to enter this competition. 

5. Please ensure your personal details are correct, as they will be used to contact you if you 
win. 6. No alternatives, cash or otherwise, will be offered to the winner as prizes. 7. The editor’s 
decision is final. 8. Comp winners' info available upon request. 9. The closing date for entries is 
May 24,2018. 


Be in with a chance of winning the Q Acoustics 
7000i 5.1 Slim by answering the following film 
related question: 

Q: Which Monty Python actor succeeded Desmond Llewelyn 
as Q in the James Bond film franchise? 

A) JOHN CLEESE B) ERIC IDLE C) MICHAEL PALIN 

HOW TO ENTER: Simply email your answer (either A, B or C) to competitions® 
homecinemachoice.com with the subject line ‘Q 1 . You must include your name, address and 
contact telephone number. 

THE CLOSING DATE for this competition is May 24,2018. Please read the terms and 
conditions (below) before sending in your entry. 


IN THIS ISSUE we're teaming up with 
Q Acoustics to give away a 7000i 5.1 Slim 
speaker package worth £1,000! The latest 
evolution of the UK speaker expert's premium 
sub/sat package, it combines class-leading 
performance with a smart, discreet 
design (available in black or white finishes). 
And it could be yours... 


Return to slender 

The Slim revamps Q Acoustics' previous 
7000i packages with a new 7060S subwoofer 
designed to make the system even easier 
to accommodate in your viewing room. 
Measuring only 6in deep, and using a sealed 
box design, you'll have no trouble finding 
space for it, while the 8in driver, onboard 
150W amp and 35Hz frequency response 
rating deliver tight, well-controlled, 
cinematic bass. 

Joining the 7060S in this multichannel 
array are Q Acoustics' neatly styled satellite 
speakers. Each model, whether it's the 


7000LRi for front and surround channels, 
or the 7000Ci centre speaker, features a 
two-and-a-half way driver arrangement, 
mounting a pair of 3in midbass units either 
side of a ring radiator tweeter. 

Each satellite features an integrated, 
rotatable foot that conceals the speaker 


terminals, and cleverly doubles as a discreet 
wall-mount. Combined with the svelte 
subwoofer, you have a package that oozes 
design class and installation flexibility. 
Optional stands are available for the 7000 
satellites, plus a wall-mount bracket for 
the 7060S. 

Reviewed in HCC #284, we found the 
7000i 5.1 Slim to be a chip off the old Q 
Acoustics block, describing it as 'sweet¬ 
sounding'. Performance is excellent, with 

seamless integration throughout 
the soundstage delivering panning 
effects with aplomb. The array 
has consistent tonality and digs 
out clear, crisp detail from movie 
soundtracks, while the bass hits 
from the 7060S blend in perfectly. 
The cabinets may be relatively 
small, but the overall experience 
is big and deliciously convincing. 

If you fancy being in with a chance of 
winning this smart-looking, high-performance 
5.1 package, simply answer the question below 
correctly - and good luck! ■ 

For more information on Q Acoustics' range of 
loudspeakers, soundbars and audio accessories, 
visit www.qacoustics.co.uk 


'Combine the curved cabinets 
with the svelte subwoofer, 
and you have a package that 
oozes design class and 
installation flexibility' 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 



















72 REVIEWS 



LONG-TERM TEST 


Focal Sib Evo 
Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 

build and sonics. This isn't the case here: Focal's array 
carries an £1,100 asking price and for the most part lives 
up to expectation. 

Unpack the Sib Evo Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 and you're 
greeted by weighty enclosures that seem impressively 
constructed. They sport full-frontal grilles to protect their 
drivers, a neat Focal logo on each cabinet, and - while not 
seamless in construction - can stand up to the odd bump 
and knock. I know this, because I dropped one of them. 

At their heart the speakers are two-way models, using 
5in midbass drivers and 0.75in tweeters for a full-range 
performance. The front L/R pair also carry additional 
3in upfiring drivers. 

The supplied subwoofer, while not a complete match 
in terms of aesthetic finish, is of the type that makes 
installation a breeze. Only 30cm high and with a front 
port and downward-firing woofer, it's easy to shift 
around your room should you want to experiment with 
placement. I found it performed admirably in a front 
corner position. 


TIUEONTEST: Seven months REVIEWER: Mark Craven 


AVINFO 

PRODUCT: 


Atmos-equipped 
sub/sat speaker 
package 


POSITION 


Focal's premium 
smallscale system 


Samsung FIW-K950; 
Wharfedale 
Diamond 11 HCP 


LAST SUMMER, THE French audio company Focal 
entered the arena of Dolby Atmos speakers with a sub/sat 
system - an idea that no other brand had apparently 
considered at the time. The likes of KEF, ELAC and PSB 
had targeted those with speaker setups already in place 
with upfiring Dolby Atmos modules. Here was a 5.1.2 option 
designed for those who wanted an entire package. 

Eight months on, the Sib Evo Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 remains 
the only Atmos-equipped sub/sat system you can buy 
(to the best of my knowledge). How long before other 
companies follow suit? 

What’s good about it? 

There are various sub/sat systems available that cater 
to those on tight budgets, and some are guilty of reaching 
so low in terms of pricing that the joy of a discrete 
multichannel package becomes obscured by poor-quality 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 




















REVIEWS 73 


Up and running, the system makes a clear case for 
Dolby Atmos audio, even on this smaller scale. AV purists 
may tell you that a quartet of ceiling-mounted speakers 
is the only way to go, but that's a viewpoint that ignores 
the lifestyles and budgets of the majority of film fans. 

This system just needs a seven-channel AVR, a bit of 
effort regards calibration, and a good Blu-ray to show 
what it can do. 

This package makes a clear 
case for Dolby Atmos audio, 
with a tangible impact from 
its height-channel drivers' 

There's a precision and poise to its overall delivery 
that's easy to like, and which serves as a reminder that 
this isn't a budget option. High-frequency details are 
crisp but not crass, and the drive and nuance of those 5in 
midbass drivers a major attraction. The crossover to the 
Sib Cub Evo subwoofer is well handled. 

Atmos impact from this system's duo of height- 
channel drivers can be surprisingly tangible. Again and 
again I've experienced 'lift-your-head' moments as Atmos 
effects are thrown skywards - a recent runout of horror 
flick Annabelle: Creation found this 5.1.2 setup cranking 
up the tension with spine-tingling, creaky FX from around 
and atop the soundstage. It doesn't challenge the 
largescale experience of a premium floorstanding package, 
but it's genuinely impressive how this compact array can 
place you amidst a soundmix. 

What’s not so good about it? 

The most obvious drawback here is the overall size of 
the cabinets - mainly the left and right enclosures with 
their Atmos upfiring drivers. They're neither small 
enough to really disappear into a home entertainment 
system, nor carry the imposing style of standmount 



SPECIFICATIONS 
Sib Evo Dolby Atmos 

DRIVE UNITS: 1 x 5in Polyflex midbass; 1 x 0.75in soft dome tweeter; 1 x 3in full-range 
Dolby Atmos driver ENCLOSURE: Rear-ported Dolby Atmos speaker FREQUENCY 
RESPONSE (CLAIMED): 65Hz-25kHz (90Hz-20kHz for Atmos driver) SENSITIVITY 
(CLAIMED): 90dB POWER HANDLING (CLAIMED): 25W-200W DIMENSIONS: 295(h) x 
195(w)xl90(d)mm WEIGHT: 3.25kg 

Sib Evo 

DRIVE UNITS: 1 x 5in Polyflex midbass; 1 x 0.75in soft dome tweeter ENCLOSURE: 
Rear-ported FREQUENCY RESPONSE (CLAIMED): 70Hz-25kHz SENSITIVITY (CLAIMED): 
90dB POWER HANDLING (CLAIMED): 25W-200W DIMENSIONS: 252(h) xl62(w) x 
162(d)mm WEIGHT: 1.8kg 

Sib Cub Evo (subwoofer) 

DRIVE UNITS: 1 x 8.25in downfiring Polyflex woofer ENCLOSURE: Front-ported 

FREQUENCY RESPONSE (CLAIMED): 35Hz-150Hz ONBOARD POWER (CLAIMED): 200W 
REMOTE CONTROL: No DIMENSIONS: 305(h) x 208(w) x 299(d)mm WEIGHT: 8kg 
CONNECTIONS: LFE input; stereo phono input 


speakers that you'll want to show off. Equally, positioning 
them at ear-height, to best aid their ceiling reflective 
driver, makes them less easy to find space for than most 
satellite speakers, where often an optimum position is 
forgone in favour of a neat installation. Ideally, you'll want 
to either wall-mount or standmount them (Focal sells its 
own Hip Evo stand). 

Bare-wire speaker terminals across the range may 
have you tweaking your own cabling and - at least at first 
- cursing the fiddling required to lace up the L/R models, 
which feature both front and Atmos terminals. Once this 
has been done, of course, you're unlikely to have to do it 
again for a while. 

While the sound performance of the Sib Evo Dolby 
Atmos 5.1.2 is generally bang on the money, other packages 
that have been through my room have thrown a light on its 
dry, analytical nature. In particular, Wharfedale's Diamond 
11 HOP [see HCC #279] showed a warmer tone - and 
more rambunctious approach to LFE - than this more 
cool, calculated setup. So while I've consistently loved its 
detailed and lean sound signature, a little bit of unbridled 
aggression wouldn't go astray. 

Another niggle here is that there's no obvious path to 
a 5.1.4 setup. You can buy additional Atmos speakers as 
a pair, but this actually gets you a 7.1.4 setup. 

Should I buy it? 

I'd suggest the Sib Evo Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 really has only 
one potential buyer - the home cinema fan seeking to 
replace a 5.1-channel sub/sat package (or soundbar 
system) with something a little more state-of-the-art. 

If that's you, you have to give it consideration, not least 
because adding standalone Atmos speakers to any existing 
sub/sat array is going to be a style compromise with its 
own placement issues to overcome. 

What this well-performing package offers is a one-stop 
Atmos upgrade. The asking price isn't inconsiderable, but 
there's plenty here to admire ■ 


7. Backing up the 
satellite speakers is 
the 8.25inSibCub 
Evo subwoofer 


2. The L/R speakers 
pack a top-mounted 
3in Atmos driver 


HCC VERDICT ★★★★★ 

Focal Sib Evo Dolby Atmos 


£1,100 www.focal.com/uk 


Focal's Sib Evo system is the ideal Atmos upgrade for 
sub/sat owners, offering an assured sound performance and 
a robust, classy construction. 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 




















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OPINION 



Digital Copy 

As a well-known UK home electronics retailer struggles to stay afloat, Mark Craven sings 
the praises of shopping with your eyes and ears rather than your keyboard and mouse 


IT'S NOT BEEN a great year so far for the UK high 
street, with retailers and restaurants all posting dire 
financial warnings or falling into administration. And 
in the latter camp is Maplin, a business that I expect 
some of you are familiar with. 

I was never a frequent shopper at Maplin, but 
clearly remember the last time I went to one of its 
stores. It was a Sunday, and I was in urgent need of 
a phono cable to hook up a subwoofer. Maplin is 
where I ended up. 

For those who never experienced this UK 
technology retailer, it always felt to me like the 
middle ground between PC World and a specialist 
independent shop, where big-brand soundbars 
and headphones would clamour for shelf-space 
alongside Ethernet switches and home security 
widgets. When it was placed in administration 
at the end of February, it had over 200 stores. 

The reasons given for Maplin's demise are 
varied, and not just, 'It's impossible to compete 
with Amazon 1 . Increased costs of imports, following 
the devaluation of the pound since June 2016, plus 
withdrawal of credit insurance, have been suggested 
as factors. Yet I'd also imagine the consumer shift 
away from bricks and mortar retail has taken its 
toll on a business with such a physical presence, 
selling products that, for the most part, don't 
demand a 'see-before-you-buy' mentality. 

A visit to Maplin wasn't like going 
to the furniture department at John 
Lewis - it was like walking around a 3D recreation 
of a mail-order catalogue. 

Maplin may yet rise again, as FIMV has done, 
or it may go the same way as Blockbuster. Either 
way, its administration is another reminder that 
names that have long been part of the UK retail 
landscape can come a cropper. 


In the palm of your hand 

Can the rest of the home electronics industry prove 
more resilient? I certainly hope so, as a future where 
all purchases are made online doesn't excite me 
much - and not just because any business model 
that asks the customer to accept a delivery 'between 
9am and 5pm' is guaranteed to annoy. 

When I buy things, I generally like to have a look 
at the thing I'm buying. There's a rough correlation 
between how expensive something is and how 
eager I am to see it, of course -1 wouldn't buy a 
house before poking my head in the airing cupboard 
- but even cheap items I like to pick up and prod. 

It's why I still buy books in bookshops. 

And when it comes to AV kit, I'm a huge believer in 
experiencing something first-hand. No speaker/amp 
combo sounds the same, and no TVs look the same, 
and everyone has a personal preference. 

Get down to your local AV retailer (or even a 
not-so-local AV retailer) and you should be able 
to experience what you want to buy, ask questions 
and get sensible, informed answers. 

What you do next is up to you. Rather than 
handing over your bank card, you might consider 
feigning indifference, heading home and trying to 
buy the same thing at a cheaper price from an online 
seller. I've been told by a number of AV specialists 
that this sort of thing happens from time to time. 

It's easy to understand. We're all keen to save money. 

But - and it's a big but - if everyone did this, the 
next time you want to listen to a 5.1 speaker package, 
that shop and its fantastic demo room might not 
actually be there any more. We value our home 
cinema hardware. We should also value the retailers 
that put in the effort to sell it to us ■ 

Do you have a favourite AV retailer? 

Let us know: email letters@homecinemachoice.com 


his food shopping 
online, as it's the 
only way to make 
sure he doesn't 
'accidentally' buy a 
two-litre tub of 
clotted ice cream 



MAIN IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/MICHAELASBEST 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 



























































76 OPINION 



Film Fanatic 


Anton van Beek blames an entire decade for ruining the Oscars, and wishes the organisation 
behind these awards wasn't so afraid of reflecting mainstream passions 


THE AWARDS SEASON is over for another year 
and, no matter how happy we were to see Guillermo 
del Toro’s The Shape of Water nab the Academy 
Award for Best Picture, it has shown yet again 
just how divorced these events have become from 
popular tastes. 

Do I believe that The Fate of the Furious or Wonder 
Woman should have been in the running for the 
Best Picture Oscar? No. But since the number of 
nominations in that category pretty much doubled 
in 2009 (from five to ten, but now apparently settled 
at nine), you'd think there'd be space 
for more films along the lines of 
Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk ; ones that 
manage to straddle that middle-ground between 
box office success and critical acclaim. 

It hasn't always been this way. And putting 
together the list of discs that would be included in 
this issue's Collecting... Best Picture Winners feature 
[see pi06] hammered that home. 

Right up through the 1960s the Academy Awards 
established a history of celebrating populist films, 
handing over its Best Picture prize to An American in 
Paris, From Here to Eternity, Around the World in 80 
Days, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Ben-Hur, West Side 
Story, Lawrence of Arabia and The Sound of Music. 
Meanwhile, films that found themselves nominated 
in the same category included Double Indemnity, 

The Bells of St. Mary’s, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, 
High Noon, The Quiet Man, Shane, Seven Brides for 
Seven Brothers, The Guns of Navarone, Cleopatra, 

How the West Was Won, Mary Poppins, Bonnie and 
Clyde and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 

Even during the 1970s, that revolutionary era 
where a new breed of tyro filmmakers subverted the 
traditional methods of production, we still witnessed 
films likes Airport, M*A*S*H, Deliverance, American 


Graffiti, The Sting, The Exorcist, The Towering Inferno, 
Jaws, Rocky and Star Wars competing for the top 
prize. The odds of a genre blockbuster in the same 
vein as Jaws or Star l/l/arsdoingthe same thing today 
is almost unthinkable. 

The decade of disaster 

So where did it all go wrong? A look at films that 
were nominated and/or won the Best Picture Oscar 
over the decades throws up a simple answer: the 
1980s happened. 

For whatever reason, throughout the '80s the 
focus of the Best Picture gong shifted away from 
straight-up cinematic hits to 'prestige' pictures like 
Dangerous Liaisons (pictured) and Out of Africa, 
and intimate dramas such as On Golden Pond and 
Children of a Lesser God. Steven Spielberg's Raiders 
of the Lost Ark and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial were the 
only exceptions to this dreary state of affairs, but 
they arrived at the very start of the decade (1981 
and 1982, respectively), and they failed to grab 
the coveted prize anyway. 

You can shock yourself viewing a list of all the 
movies nominated by the Academy during the 1980s. 
Was this organisation really trying to tell cinemagoers 
that Fatal Attraction was one of the five best films 
released in 1987? For your reference, that would be 
the same 1987 that gave us Lethal Weapon, Predator, 
The Untouchables, Full Metal Jacket and RoboCop. 

Yes, more populist fare has been rewarded over 
the past couple of decades (such as Gladiator in 
2000), but things could still be a lot better. It's time 
the Academy realised there's plenty to enjoy about 
blockbuster movies, and there's no shame in glorying 
in a film's box office success ■ 

Would you like to see more blockbusters nominated for Oscars? 

Let us know: email letters@homecinemachoice.com 



is proud that of the 

50 films nominated 
for the Best Picture 
Oscar during the 
1980s, he only has 
eight among his 
disc collection 



HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 








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78 OPINION 



In The Mix 


When it comes to HDR, Jon Thompson says you ain't seen nuthin 1 yet. But can the electronics 
industry afford to make its consumers wait around for much longer? 


ONE OF THE technologies on display at CES this 
year which earned excited coverage in the press was 
Micro LED. Samsung had a prototype screen called 
The Wall'. It's perhaps more revolutionary than 
you might have thought - the first new display 
technology for around ten years. 

The last major revolutionary launch was OLED, 
not by LG which is carrying the flag these days, but 
by Sony, which debuted an llin screen back in 2007 
- ten years before its bigscreen A1 successor. 

Don't hate me, but I reckon we are seeing the end 
of life of OLED, as it can't deliver the performance 
needed for today's display technology HDR. 

It's never going to achieve the brightness of the HDR 
specification, and relies on tone mapping; you really 
need a 2,000-nit brightness, if not 4,000 nits, to do 
the format justice. Tone mapping is useful for 
projection, as you are never going to have 1,000 nits 
in a dark room. One reason being that it's dangerous 
for your eyes and will cause blinding headaches. 

We're currently witnessing a kind of HDR-lite from 
OLED TVs. At the same time, as it stands virtually no 
content is captured in true HDR either. Instead, HDR is 
created in the grade, where the dynamic range of the 
photography is stretched. (Film-originated material 
gives a better result than digitally captured content 
due to film's better ability to capture highlights, 
looking good pushed to about 2,000 nits). 

What we are going to see eventually on a wider 
scale is content capture at full dynamic range, and 
if you think you have seen HDR, it'll be time to think 
again. Such content appears very natural and not 
'pushed' in the way a lot of UHD Blu-rays look. 

The first true HDR content will probably be sports, 
as it's a natural fit, and drama-based productions 
will change as momentum occurs and teams adapt 
to HDR workflows. 


Back to Micro LED. This extreme brightness display 
tech is about to get some real traction, as it appears 
Apple is now developing it for use in its products. Like 
all displays, it's often easier to start by making a small 
version than a big one. I wouldn't be surprised if it's 
three-to-five years before we see largescreen displays 
using this technology available to buy, with a lot of 
prototypes shown in the meantime. 

Really, though, we need them now. HDR can 
have that wow factor, which is why it's always been 
viewed as the 'next step' in home cinema. Micro LED, 
or Sony's CLEDIS system, should stop people giving 
up on HDR as a gimmick because they are not seeing 
what it can truly do. 

At the moment it's poorly implemented (and 
confusing consumers via its different flavours) and 
not delivering what it says on the tin. An HDR TV 

needs to be truly high dynamic range, 

not a just-a-bit-brighter SDR display. 

Creatives are so concerned that you can't achieve 
true HDR at home that a lot of films are not even 
really HDR despite the disc claiming they are. Blade 
Runner2049 is only mastered at 181 nits MaxCLL. 

Any display can achieve that without using tone 
mapping, which is something that scares creatives as 
each manufacturer does it differently. No filmmaker 
wants their movie messed up by bad picture 
processing if they can help it. 

By the time true HDR displays start to arrive, 

I hope manufacturers won't have blown all the 
consumer goodwill. The only way to sell real 
high-brightness displays is to tell you that your 
previous display wasn't bright enough in the first 
place. Your current HDR TV may look great, but it 
really should look even greater ■ 

What has been your favourite HDR experience so far? 

Let us know: email letters@homecinemachoice.com 


When he's not in 


his screening room, 


tweets about 

7 1 .H 

Hollywood gossip, 

■ _ y 1 

movie-making and 

ffl 

digital mastering at 

/* 

@johnnyfocal 



r m -yy/JL 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 








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8i 4DX HOME CINEMA THROUGH HEADPHONES 


Feedback 

Got an axe to grind? Need to comment on current tech? Want to share your knowledge with 
our readers? Team HCC is here to help 


Can I improve my AV setup? 

Hi. As a regular reader of Home Cinema 
Choice, I like reading about all the latest 
speaker systems and receivers and related 
AV equipment, even though most of the 
technical details go over my head. 

My setup is based around the fact that I 
have to wear headphones. It's usually late 
at night when I get to watch films and not 
having a dedicated room means that for now 
speakers are not an option. 

I have a basic setup. An Epson EH-TW6700 
projector fires onto a wall painted with 
Smarter Surfaces projector screen paint. 

I use a Sony BDP-S5200 Blu-ray player and 
Panasonic RP-HTX7 headphones. I plug the 
headphones into the back of the projector. 

My question is: how do I go about improving 
this basic system, in particular the audio? 
Would buying better headphones be sufficient, 
or do I need to buy an external headphone 
amp or an AV receiver? I was looking at 
Blue Microphones' Sadie headphones, which 
feature a built-in amp. Would these alone be 
enough to beef up the sound? Should I be 
plugging my headphones into the Blu-ray 
player rather than the projector? 

Simon Daly 


Jon Thompson replies: 

You're right, Simon: 
this is a basic setup 
-just a player and a 
projector! Yet while 
you could no doubt 
improve things 
visually (by 
considering a 
dedicated screen, 
for instance), boosting 
audio should be your first port of call. 

The only audio output your Blu-ray player 
has (in addition to HDMI) is a coaxial digital 
out. You want to find a way to use this, as 
plugging your headphones into your projector 
is not going to be good for the simple fact 
a projector will have a lot of high-frequency 
noise floating about from the power supply 
and the lamp. 

A smallscale DAC/headphone amp with 
a coaxial input will let you take the audio 
straight from your player (remember to set its 
output to PCM) and onto your Panasonic cans. 
There are various budget options available, 
including one I found on Amazon called the 
SMSL M3 for £75. This is no doubt a cheap 
and cheerful solution, but perhaps worth a 



The HD-DAC1 - a great building block 


punt. If it's not to your liking you could always 
return it. 

An alternative would be to look at 
something more expensive in the shape of 
Marantz's HD-DAC1 (£500). This gives you a 
very good digital preamplifier, with the inputs/ 
outputs you need, and is a great building block 
for adding other sources. And any other BD 
player you may get with either an optical or 
coaxial output will also hook up fine. 

A final option is to simply look at some new 
headphones (and I'd suggest the Marantz 
HD-DAC1 probably deserves an upgraded set), 
but I'd still be wary of feeding any straight 
from the audio output on your PJ. 



I've been in my loft... 

Hello all. Having read articles about old 
technology, and at a loose end, I decided 
to dig out my VCR from the loft. I also 
found a copy of Suspiria to try it out. 

I connected the VCR to my TV and sat 
back to watch - I had forgotten how good 
the opening credits are. Even in stereo 
the rolling thunder sounded awesome! 
Needless to say the Blu-ray is on my 
to-buy list. 

On another subject, reading Wendy 
Hiley's letter [HCC #284] makes me 
realise I must have married the wrong 
woman! 

John Ellison, via email 

Mark Craven replies: With vinyl resurgent 
in hi-fi circles, some have wondered 
whether VHS might also be due a 
re-appreciation. But while I understand 
the nostalgia value, let's be honest 
- it was a bit rubbish. Wasn't it? 



Suspiria 's latest BD is based on a 4K scan 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 






LETTERS B3 


3D BD deserves better 

Well done Anton! Myself and a mate have 
been having bouts of mental hysteria over 
the lack of Dolby Atmos soundtracks on 
3D Blu-rays in particular [see Film Fanatic, 
HCC #283]. 

We invest £5,000 on AV systems and then 
find we have to buy the 4K upgrades - not 
so much for the picture, but for the sound. 

I can't watch a film if there's no multi¬ 
dimensional soundtrack, I just lose interest, 
but I love the Atmos sound as it's so 
enthralling and powerful. It adds so much 
to the movies I love. You give them a roasting 
mate, we'll back you up. Wonderful mag 
- I've been reading for many years now. 

Is it really over 20? I'm getting old! 

Glenn 

3D BD deserves better, II 

I couldn't agree more with Steve Fyles 
[Feedback, HCC #284] about pairing 3D 
with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X or Auro-3D. 

I remember reading about UHD and how 
great it was going to be in 3D. No need for 
active glasses! Passive will do because of the 
resolution hike! That was until the Blu-ray Disc 
Association decided it wasn't going to happen. 
Disappointment number one. Then they 
decided that 3D sound was only going onto 
the 'flat' discs. Disappointment number two. 

These people are really out of touch with 
what film buffs want. They want us to buy 
both formats. 

I have setups for both formats. If 3D is 
available I buy that over UHD. As Steve says 
there's more of a wow factor with 3D. 4K is 
okay if it's mastered right. Back-catalogue 
stuff is a bit naff. 

Frederick Elliott 

Anton van Beek replies: Whatever the reason 
behind it (and I wouldn't be surprised if it was 
often being done to allow space for foreign- 
language soundtracks in order to create 
pan-European releases), the decision to drop 
existing Atmos or DTS:X soundtracks from 3D 
Blu-rays is one of my biggest frustrations as a 
home cinema fan. And it's nice to see - just as 
I presumed in my column - that many of you 
feel exactly the same way. 

That there's no way for me to enjoy the 
native 3D photography of Gravity (the only 
way to experience the film as it was meant 
to be seen) paired with its native Dolby Atmos 
sound design, outside of popping the 3D disc 
in a Blu-ray deck attached to a screen, the 2D 
Atmos disc in another player hooked up to 
your speakers and pressing 'Play' on both at 
the same time, is utterly ridiculous. 

Sadly, outside of an industry-wide rebirth 
of 3D spurred on by James Cameron and the 
eventual home entertainment release of his 
long-overdue Avatar sequel, I really don't see 
the situation changing either. 


Star Letter... 

Movies in your face! 

Regards the article about IMAX and the 
section on premium film experiences 
[HCC #284], I reckon Cineworld's 4DX 
is one of the best ways to enjoy your 
action film of choice. As long as it’s the 
second time you’re watching it. 

The main reason for this is that the 4DX 
experience can be a distraction from the 
film's narrative, especially if your seat is 
shaking, you’re getting water sprayed in 
your face and the cinema suddenly smells 
like it’s on fire. 

For those that haven’t yet strapped in 
to the 4DX rollercoaster, as well as a 3D 
screening, you get chairs that move in three 
dimensions, vibration plates and ticklers 
in the base and back of the seat, air jets 
behind your head and neck, water sprays 
above and in front (for those that don’t 
like the idea of water, this can be turned 
off at the chair) and scent sprays. Then, 
depending on the theatre, you can also get 
fog, wind, rain and snow, as well as strobe 
lighting to enhance scenes that need, well, 
flashy lights. 

Add all this together and you can see 
how it may be a distraction and take you 
away from the movie. However, for what 
you lose, you make up for in the physical 
and sensory experience. 

I went to see Star Wars: The Force 
Awakens in 4DX at Cineworld Sheffield. 
When a Stormtrooper fired his blaster in the 
opening battle on Jakku, and a gush of air 
whooshed past my ear, I grinned in 
satisfaction. Then we had the seat rolling 
and pitching as we joined Poe in his X-Wing, 


Mark Craven replies: Just to add to Anton's 
defence of all things 3D, I should counter 
your view that back-catalogue 4K discs 
don't impress, Frederick. Sure, there have 
been some poor-quality legacy releases 
{Terminator2: Judgement Day being a good 
example), but there have also been poor- 


water misting in 
my face as he 
flew near the lake, 
and the kicks 
and rumbles of 
the whole seat 
asTIE-Fighters 
exploded. 

Even the scent 
sprays (used on 
three or four 
occasions) helped bring me 
into the action. You smell the burning metal 
of mangled ships, or the dampness of the 
Takodana forests when Rey first meets 
Kylo Ren. 

So there are pros and cons to 4DX, and 
I’m sure the experience will differ depending 
on how well the motion/effects track is 
created by the developers. I also found 
that there were times where movement in 
the seat didn’t bring anything to the party. 
But if you ask me would I go again, even with 
the extra cost (and risk of spilled popcorn), 
then I would have to say yes. 

Simon Young 

Mark Craven replies: That seems both fun 
and annoying Simon. I've had some great 
D-Box experiences in the past, but found the 
pitch and roll a distraction at times. Air in my 
face and phantom smells sounds even more 
disruptive. But you've almost convinced me 
that I need to check it out. 

Star letter-writer Simon grabs a copy of The 
Shannara Chronicles: Season Two on Blu-ray. 

Based on the bestselling series of fantasy books 
by Terry Brooks, this second season of this TV 
show finds The Four Lands in chaos once again 
when the evil Warlock Lord returns from the dead. 
The Shannara Chronicles: Season Two is available 
to own on DVD and Blu-ray from April 30, courtesy 
of Studiocanal. 


quality releases of modern movies (such 
as Ware raft). 

In fact, there are some back-catalogue 
releases that I would rank as among the best 
the format has to offer, including Bridge on the 
River Kwai, which looks sumptuous for a 
movie of such vintage, and Crouching Tiger, 




MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


© 2017 VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC. AND SONAR ENTERTAINMENT DISTRIBUTION, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES AND ALL 
RELATED TITLES, LOGOS AND CHARACTERS ARE TRADEMARKS OF VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC. SPIKE IS A TRADEMARK OF SPIKE CABLE NETWORKS INC. 


84 PICK ME A NEW PJ/READY, STEADY, GO! 



Hidden Dragon. Of course, both these titles 
appear dearly derived from their film origins, 
with noticeable grain, and I concede that if 
I was to show an AV newbie a 4K HDR disc to 
highlight the benefits of the format, I would no 
doubt opt for a modern, clean-looking title 
such as Passengers or Dunkirk. 

Should I stick with JVC? 

Not sure if you remember me. You featured 
my cinema room in your magazine a few 
years ago - we live out in Italy and have 
a JVC X70 PJ, amongst other bits. 

We’re going to be moving house later this 
year so I’ll be kitting out a new, dedicated 
room and I wonder if you could advise me. 

We have the JVC projector which I think is a 
six-year-old model now. Since then JVC has 
released the X75, X700, X750, X7000, X7500 
and the current X7900. My question is, is it 
worth upgrading? 

Based on your reviews, the current models 
are starting to look good with HDR material, 
although at a guess it might be a year or two 
before they really nail it. Mine has a claimed 
brightness of 1,300 Lumens whereas the 
X7900 is pumping out a claimed 1,900. 

Ours still looks wonderful with Blu-ray 
but the newer ones presumably look even 
more wonderful. 

Plus there are now some 4K models 
available from Sony, Optoma and others. 

You’ll know that the JVC has great black levels; 
would we miss that if we went for an Optoma 
or Sony? Would JVC's DLA-X5900 be better 
than ours or should I stick with a 7XXX variant? 

Cheers, and thanks for a brilliant magazine. 
Marcus 

John Archer replies: It is definitely worth 
upgrading now that 4K and HDR are an 
established and brilliant part of the AV world. 

If money is no object, Sony’s laser-based 
VW760ES is the best home cinema 4K/HDR 
projector without spending stratospheric 
amounts of money. But this still costs £15,000. 

As a more affordable option, JVC's 
DLA-X5900 is outstanding. For the first time 
JVC has combined its traditional black level 
prowess with an effective HDR performance, 
while its e-Shift technology does a better 
job than previous iterations of delivering 
a 4K-esque image despite not boasting 
a native 4K resolution. 

Although we haven’t yet tested the X7900, 
its superior specifications suggest it will be 
worth the extra over the excellent X5900. 
Especially with HDR playback. 

While some of the new breed of affordable 
DLP projectors are exceptional value, you’ll 
likely find their contrast unsatisfactory given 
your JVC history. 

Cue Sony’s VPL-VW360ES. While its 
black levels aren’t up to the standards of JVC, 
they’re perfectly respectable. Sony is also 


clever about how it adjusts HDR for a 
projection environment, and most importantly 
of all, it delivers true 4K pictures that look 
notably sharper and cleaner than JVC’s e-Shift 
4K images. 

My gut feeling is that you will feel more 
all-round satisfied with one of the JVC models. 
But do at least demo the X7900/X5900 
alongside a Sony VW360ES if you can. 

Is speed of the essence? 

I was thrilled to see my letter published in 
HCC #284 but even more fascinated at 
Keith's letter in the same issue, which not 
only gave an opposite and challenging view 
but considerable food for thought - his Star 
Letter was thoroughly deserved! 

There were several moments after reading 
Keith's letter where I seriously thought: would 
there be a time when I would consider 
discarding my AVR and multichannel speaker 
package for a soundbar solution? In fact Keith 
gave me the most compelling case to consider 
a soundbar ever. Never say never, as the saying 
goes. But for now I’m going to stand by my 
multichannel setup. 

However, what puzzled me most was 
Keith's statement about how quick it is to get 
his soundbar ready to rock compared to the 
slowness of his Sony AVR. I find that by far the 
most time-consuming part of switching on my 
kit (and I confess I use a Harmony remote with 
a pre-programmed activity) is probably 
waiting for the BD player to boot and load a 
disc. (Although my Panasonic DMP-UB700 
is much faster than my DMP-BD10A ever was. 
Do you recall those Profile 1.0 days? My wife 
used to point out how much quicker it would 
be to just watch a DVD...). 

If I am watching a movie on Netflix or 
Amazon Prime (through my 4K Fire TV) then 


of course things are a little quicker, and Keith 
also appears to mostly stream movies. 

So in the interests of science or nonsense 
(I forget which), I've clocked my setup at 31 
seconds from first (Harmony) button press to 
movie-ready (for Blu-ray), although this is not 
including 'disc load time' because firstly, the 
performance of the disc player is not pertinent 
here, but mostly because it takes me some 
time to get out of my armchair, remove the 
cellophane from the Blu-ray, find my glasses 
and insert the right disc because otherwise I'll 
just end up watching the 'Special Features' 
or the DVD version that came with it. 

However, I did manage to clock a blistering 
23 seconds for the 4K Fire TV. I say blistering 
but I have no idea what constitutes blistering, 
although I can state that in both cases my 
Denon AVR was ready to rumble after 10.8 
seconds! Is that good? 

I already know I've shot myself in the foot 
as I can guarantee all the soundbar owners 
with stopwatches have now had a go and are 
gleefully punching the air, having shaved off 
many vital seconds. But is this really a factor? 

I think soundbars have a great many pros (as 
well as cons) that would sway people to either 
avoid a multichannel setup completely or trade 
up for one, but is the time taken to switch on 
your kit really one of them? How else will you 
make sure you have had enough time to get 
your drinks, snacks and nibbles ready? 

Ian Forster m 

Contact us... 

Write to HCC, AV Tech Media Ltd, Suite 25, Eden 
Flouse, Enterprise Way, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 6HF, 
or email us at letters@homecinemachoice.com 

Please note: we cannot guarantee to print/answer all 
the letters we receive. Sorry. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 







COMPETITIONS B5 


WIN! Great Blu-rays up for grabs... 

Just email your answer to Competitions@homecinemachoice.com to be in with a chance to win 



Buck Rogers in the 25th 
Century: The Complete 
Series 

Get ready for a blast from the past as the 
full 33-episode run of this classic sci-fi TV 
series explodes onto Blu-ray. Buck Rogers 
in the 25th Century: The Complete Series is 
out now, courtesy of Fabulous Films Ltd./ 
Fremantle Media Enterprises and we've 
got two Blu-ray boxsets to give away! 


Question: 

Which actress starred as Colonel Wilma 
Deering in the series? 

Answer: 

A) Pamela Hensley B) Erin Gray 
C) Jamie Lee Curtis 

Email your answer with 'Buck Rogers' as 
the subject heading - and don't forget to 
include your postal address! 





Amazon Women 
on the Moon & 
Nightmares 

Two cult-favourite 1980s 
anthology movies make 
their UK Blu-ray debut 
in April, courtesy of 101 
Films. Amazon Women on the 
Moon is available now, with Nightmares 
following on April 23 - and we've got three 
pairs of the two Blu-rays up for grabs! 

Question: 

Which of the following didn't direct some 
of Amazon Women on the Moon ? 

Answer: 

A) John Landis B) Steven Spielberg 
C) Joe Dante 

Email your answer with 'Amazon Women' 
as the subject heading - and don't forget 
to include your postal address! 


Rawhead Rex 

An ancient demon terrorises 
the Irish countryside in this 
unforgettable '80s monster 
movie, which arrives on 
Blu-ray on May 14, courtesy 
of Arrow Video. In addition 
to a new 4K restoration of the film, 
the Blu-ray is also packed with bonus goodies 
- and to celebrate the release we've got five 
Rawhead Rex Blu-rays to be won! 

Question: 

Rawhead Rex is adapted from a short story 
by which famous horror author? 

Answer: 

A) Stephen King B) Clive Barker 
C) Shaun Hutson 

Email your answer with 'Rawhead Rex' as the 
subject heading - and don't forget to include 
your postal address! 


Molly's Game 

The operator of an exclusive 
high-stakes poker empire 
finds herself targeted by 
the FBI in this remarkable 
true story. Molly's Game is 
available to own on Digital 
Download from May 4, followed 
by DVD and Blu-ray on May 14, courtesy of 
Entertainment One Ltd. To mark the release 
we have five Blu-rays to give away! 

Question: 

Molly's Game marked the directorial debut of 
which award-winning screenwriter? 

Answer: 

A) William Goldman B) Diablo Cody 
C) Aaron Sorkin 

Email your answer with 'Molly's Game' as the 
subject heading - and don't forget to include 
your postal address! 


Terms & Conditions 

1. Entrants must be aged 18 or over and resident in the United Kingdom. 2. Employees of MyTimeMedia Ltd and companies supplying competition prizes are not 
eligible to enter. 3. No responsibility will be accepted for delayed, mislaid, lost or damaged entries. 4. Only one entry per household; multiple entries will be discounted. 
5. Prizes will be awarded to the first correct entries drawn at random after the closing date. 6. No alternatives, cash or otherwise, will be offered to the winner as prizes. 
7. The editor’s decision is final. 8. Comp winners' info available on request. 9. The closing date is May 24 2018. 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 











86 READER'S ROOM 


Certified: AV-Holic! 


HCC reader Mark got some family help to build this outdoor movie theatre. Now he's dazzling 
friends with its 4K visuals, 3D audio and Alexa-powered smart control 



Welcome to the AV-Holics Hall 
of Fame - introduce yourself! 

My name is Mark Burton, I’m a Director for 
a local recruitment agency. 

How long have you been into 
home cinema? 

I purchased my first plasma screen in 2003 
- a 42in Fujitsu - and since then I have been 
hooked! I bought my first projector the 
following year, and had my first dedicated 
cinema room about 10 years later. 

Upon moving to a new house in 2016, one 
of my prerequisites when finding a suitable 
home was somewhere that would give me 
the ability to have a proper cinema room, 
taking things to another level. However, 
things panned out slightly differently when 
moving in. The garage I had planned on 
converting wasn’t suitable, so, with the 
help of my dad, I decided on building 
a completely new structure outside. 

What’s in your AV setup? 

Things have moved quickly since building 
the cinema in the Summer of 2017. Only last 


Mark even made the projector 
screen for his 'Burtyplex 1 



Easter the building didn’t even exist. A lot 
of research and hard work and it's now 
totally finished. 

Quite proud to know that, with the help 
of my dad, we've built the whole building 


ourselves - not just the external structure, but 
also the acoustically transparent black velvet 
curtains, 19 acoustic panels, AV unit and 
projector screen. 

My current list of equipment for vision is 
a JVC DLA-X7900 projector, Oppo UDP-203 
UHD player, Radiance Lumagen 4440 scaler, 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 





AV-HOLIC 87 




Sky+HD, Roku Streaming Stick+ and Xbox 
One X, with a DIY variable masking screen 
(16:9 and Cinemascope). 

For sound I have a full 7.1.4 XTZ Cinema 
Series Dolby Atmos speaker setup with 
Arendal Sub 3, Denon AVR-X720 0 AVR and 
an IOTA seven-channel power amp. 

Finishing things off for comfort are a 
Logitech Harmony Remote with Alexa, Philips 
Hue lighting, Mitsubishi Zen air-conditioning 
unit and Premiere three-seater cinema 
seating from Drinkstuff. 

What was the last thing you 
added to your system? 

This seems to change on a weekly basis! Only 
recently I’ve replaced an Epson EH-TW9300 
projector with the JVC model, and the Arendal 
subwoofer replaced a pair of outgoing 
Monolith subs from BK Electronics. 





rain delays 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 














88 READER'S ROOM 


Are you thinking of upgrading 
anything else? 

I’d like to say no, not at the moment, but 
then again only three months ago I had no 
intention of changing projector or changing 
subwoofer. I'm now about to get a second 
Arendal Subwoofer 3. 

What's your favourite bit of kit 
and why? 

That’s a really difficult question to answer. 

I’m not sure I have a favourite as such, although 
my projector and speakers are very special. 

For my application, I think I will struggle to 
improve on performance without seriously 
breaking the bank. If I was to choose one thing 
that adds performance to my room, I think it 
would actually be my acoustic panels. Since 
adding them, the soundstage in my room has 
massively improved. This is an area that I feel 
a lot of people disregard, although it is probably 
the most important part of the room. 

Do you stream movies/TV from 
Netflix/Amazon/Sky etc? 

Yes, I have Amazon Prime and Netflix 
membership. I use these through the Roku in 
my cinema room and direct through my Sony 
65in A1E OLED in my living room. 

How often do you settle down 
for movie night? 

I try to use my room at least two or three times 
a week. This is usually for films, but I will also 
watch football in there as well. 

What movies/discs do you use 
to show off your system? 

The recent release of Interstellar on Ultra HD 
Blu-ray is absolutely incredible. The scene 
where Cooper enters the black hole is 
definitely my new go-to scene. When 
showing people this, the reaction is always 
the same: they always seem to forget they 
are watching a film and actually feel like 
they are in the spaceship with Coop. 

The surround mix and bass on it is fantastic. 



You can feel the pressure build up in my room 
as the scene progresses. 

Other go-to discs include The Dark Knight 
(Ultra HD Blu-ray), Oblivion and, for Dolby 
Atmos purposes, Mad Max: Fury Road. 

And what are your Top 5 
favourite flicks? 

Five isn’t many to choose from, although Aliens 
and Terminator2 will always make it. Other 
noteworthy favourites in no particular order 
include The Dark Knight Trilogy (I know, not 
one film), Heat, Predator, Die Hard and The 
Silence of the Lambs. 


What do friends and family 
think of the cinema room? 

They all love it! My girls (10 and 11) think it's 
amazing and always want to show it off to their 
friends, and I’m sure my 10-month-old boy will 
be my movie buddy when he gets older! 

Anyone who comes to have a demo is 
awestruck at the quality of the sound, picture 
and the whole experience. They all say they 
will now feel that the local multiplex will be 
a step backwards. Unfortunately, I don’t think 
pictures will ever do a dedicated room justice. 
Until you experience one, they are very difficult 
to explain how good they are! ■ 



Share your cinema system in the mag! 

If you want to be in HCC, you'll need to send us some hi-res images of your cinema room. Here are a few tips... 


1. Go big. Set your camera to take images at 
the largest possible size, and at the highest 
resolution. Don't worry about cropping or 
resizing - we will make them print-ready. 

2. Get in focus. Make sure your photos are 
as sharp and clear as possible. If you have 
one, use a tripod, or place your camera on a 
flat, steady surface and take pictures on a 
delay. The sharper they are, the bigger we 
can print them. 

3. Let some light in. While we tend to watch 


movies in the dark, our cinema systems look 
their best when they are lit. If you can shoot 
with natural daylight, do so. If your room 
doesn't get a lot of light (a garage conversion, 
for instance) then switch on whatever lights 
are fitted. Avoid using flash wherever possible. 

4. Be thorough. Send photos of as much of the 
room as possible. Images of both the front and 
back of the room, the kit rack, speakers, 
seating, disc shelf, movie poster art... The more 
the merrier. 


5. Don't be shy. Send a picture of yourself! 

6 . Show us more. Got pictures of your room 
before it was a cinema? Or snaps of work 
being done? We love to see these, too. 

Now what? 

Email your images to 
letters@homecinemachoice.com with 
the subject heading 'AV-Holic', and provide 
your answers to the relevant questions above 
- then we'll be in touch! 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 







































HARPENDEN • EDGWARE • BECKENHAM 


% V '* 

III 


3 times award winner 
HOME CINEMA CHOICE 
“Best Multiroom Installation” 



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WWW.HOMECINEMACHOICE.COM 91 


PI AY BACK 

-►Software HIGHLIGHTS THE SHAPE OF WATER Award-winning fantasy 
makes a splash THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Acclaimed drama packs a 
punch on Ultra HD Blu-ray JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE Fun and games in this family- 
friendly sequel/reboot JUSTICE LEAGUE Are these 4K heroes in a league of their own? & MORE! 



It's the moment home cinema fans have been 
waiting for: the Star Wars franchise has made 
the leap to Ultra HD Blu-ray. Find out if The Last 
Jedi sets a new AV benchmark for the format 
as we take the 4K platter for a spin on p94... 


HCC RATINGS KEY. 


Outstanding 


Acceptable 


Disappointing 


Star Wars: Thi 


rdr>* Walt Disney-»Ultn 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 












There's nothing fishy here 

Guillermo del Toro's Oscar-winning fantasy deserves to be a monster hit on UHD Blu-ray 






HOC VERDICT 

The Shape of Water 


t Twentieth Century Fox 
ClJHD Blu-ray & Region 
E £30 (US Import) 

WThis4Kencode'5 
HDR and wide colour is p 
suited to del Toro's paint 

ABD 

; use of 
erfectly 
erly vision. 


★★★★★ 
★★★★ 
★★★★ 

OVERALL: ★★★★ 


Picture. 

Audio: 

Extras. 


The Shape of Water 

Try summarising Guillermo del Toro's latest movie 
to someone and it'll sound like the very worst kind of 
student film. A romantic fairy tale set in an Art Deco 
world, about misfits falling in love, where one of the 
misfits is an actual monster who looks like he's 
walked straight off the set of The Creature from 
the Black Lagoon ? It ain't Fast and Furious, certainly. 

Yet so beautifully written and sensuously filmed 
is The Shape of Water that any resistance to its 
apparent tweeness lasts for all of five minutes. 

This is cinema at its enchanting best, and as such it 
deserves the many awards that have been lavished 
on both the film itself and its writer-director. 

Picture: Despite only getting a 2K cinema release 
from a predominantly 3.4K shoot, The Shape of 
Water's 4K transfer does a much more effective job 
of delivering its beautiful lighting, sets and imagery 
than the accompanying 1080p Blu-ray. 

There's noticeably more detail in the beautifully 
crafted costumes and wonderfully detailed sets, 
as well as the remarkably realised skin of the film's 
‘creature 1 . There's precious little CGI in play here, 
and it shows. 

There's also a more defined sense of space in 
the film's whimsical locations, and these image 
enhancements help you forge a more intimate 
relationship with del Toro's vision. 

The Ultra HD Blu-ray's biggest treat, though, is the 
gorgeous effect its wider colour and light ranges have 
on the film's fantastical world. Every frame looks 


more dynamic and rich, enhancing the dream-like 
atmosphere and making the film's world an even 
more irresistible - if occasionally icky - place to be. 
Audio: Accompanying The Shape of Water's 
impressive visuals is a DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundmix. 

This is a little disappointing; we could imagine 
an Atmos or DTS:X track really enhancing the 
sense of height and space in the film's laboratory 
locations, or making Alexandre Desplat's score even 
more hypnotic. 

To be fair, though, even in this 5.1 guise the score 
meanders artfully around every channel, dialogue 
is always impressively contextualised, and there's 
a rich, uncompressed, clean feel to everything. 
Extras: All The Shape of Water's extras are found on 
the (Region A-locked ) Full HD Blu-ray that is packed 
alongside this 4K US import - and while it doesn't 
sport the sort of heavyweight assortment of goodies 
we've come to expect from previous Blu-ray releases 
of Guillermo del Toro's films (the major surprise 
being the lack of a commentary track), there's still 
some good stuff here to get stuck into. 

The highlights kick off with a half-hour Making of... 
documentary covering all the main aspects of the 
film's creation, from production design to score and 
the development of the creature. There are also 
short featurettes detailing the filming of two key 
scenes; an interview with artist James Jean (who 
created much of the film's gorgeous concept art); 
and a fascinating ‘masterclass' with a theatre full 
of film students where del Toro and other crew 
members discuss making a monster movie. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 










The Snowman Ferdinand 


Pitch Perfects 


PLAYBACK 93 


Universal Pictures -> All-region BD 
£25 


Twentieth Century Fox Region B BD 
£25 


Universal PicturesAll-region BD 
£25 


It was always likely that 
Hollywood would try to 
bring one of JoNesbo's 
bestselling crime novels 
to the screen, but who 
would have thought it would make as big 
of a hash of it as this? Rushed into 
production (director Tomas Alfredson 
claims he didn't have the time to shoot 
around 15 per cent of the screenplay), the 
film is an incomprehensible mess of 
abandoned subplots that fails to realise 
the cinematic potential of Nesbo's novel. 
This BD sports a suitably cool and crisp 
Full HD encode, while the DTS-HD MA 7.1 
mix is pleasingly immersive. Extras are 
limited to five short promo featurettes. 


The classic children's 
book The Story of 
Ferdinand (about a bull 
who would rather smell 
flowers than compete 
in bullfights) gets a fairly charmless CG- 
animated update courtesy of the studio 
responsible for the Ice Age films. While 
the 'toon itself is unlikely to excite you, 
this Blu-ray should hold your attention 
with its bright, colourful and perfectly 
rendered 2.40:l-framed Full HD encode. 
The disc's DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is no 
slouch either, delivering plenty of action 
across the soundstage. Bonus goodies 
are plentiful, although they're almost 
entirely aimed at little kids. 




Struggling to adjust to life 
outside college the Barden 
Bellas reunite for one last 
musical tour in this final 
instalment of the comedy 
series. It's not as sharp as 
the original, but Pitch Perfect 3 does at least improve on its 
immediate predecessor and finds a few new beats to add to 
the formula. The undoubted highlight of this BD release is an 
effortlessly fluid and wide-ranging DTS:X soundtrack that takes 
the a capella musical numbers to new heights; the AVC 1.85:1 
Full HD encode is also richly detailed and clean. A pair of 
chat-tracks head up a sizeable set of extras. 



★ ★★★★ ★★★ 


★ ★★★★ 




-> Three Billboards Outside 
Ebbing, Missouri 


Writer/director Martin McDonagh's drama about a 
mother seeking justice following the murder of her 
daughter has been pretty omnipresent on the recent 
awards circuit - and its acclaim is deserved. Despite 
being a little overtly theatrical at times, it remains 
a powerful, brilliantly-acted smalltown America 
drama that holds up well to repeat viewings. 

Picture: Three Billboards... was shot at 2.8K, and 
only received a 2K digital intermediate for cinematic 
release. Hardly surprising, then, that the image 
on this 4K Blu-ray isn't the sharpest around, lacking 
the detail and crispness of the best-looking releases. 

That said, the picture does improve 
on the 1080p transfer. The lush 
landscapes look slightly more defined 
and three-dimensional, while close-ups 
reveal more refinement in the actors' 
care-worn faces. 

The HDRIO upgrade also means that 
sunny exteriors appear naturally bright 
and vivid, while artificial light sources 
have a more life-like intensity. 

The red hue of the titular billboards 
is far more punchy, yet the enhanced 
colour grading of the 4K Blu-ray also 
makes skin tones look more authentic. 

There are a couple of issues. First, a 
few sequences - such as the opening 
one in the mist - appear slightly noisier 
than they do on the Blu-ray. Second, 
some exterior shots are infiltrated by 


A sign of the times for HDR 

Martin McDonagh's unforgettable drama makes quite an impression in 4K 


a mild yellow undertone. Overall, though, the 4K 
picture justifies the disc's extra cost. 

Audio: Three Billboards... only gets a DTS-HD MA 5.1 
mix on both its 4K and 1080p discs. Even so, 
we didn't find the movie lacking from an audio 
perspective; it's hardly an action blockbuster, after 
all. What you do get sounds clean and open; it's alive 
with ambient details, and revels in Carter Burwell's 
haunting score. 

Extras: For a relatively low-budget release, Three 
Billboards... gets a solid set of extra features. Pick 
of the pack is a 30-minute Making of... documentary 
that includes lots of behind-the-scenes footage 
and an excellent breakdown of the film's pivotal 
scene. There are also five deleted scenes. 

Also, be sure to set half-an-hour aside for Six 
Shooter - a darkly comic (and Oscar-winning) 2004 
short film by McDonagh that redefines the idea of 
somebody having a bad day. 


Frances McDormand's Mildred takes 
the law into her own hands 


HCC VERDICT 

Three Billboards Outside 
Ebbing, Missouri 


E Twentieth Century Fox 
E|§HD Blu-ray & All-region BD 
E £30 (US Import) 

J This brilliantly acted drama 
enjoys a respectable 4K showing. 




★★★★ 

Iciriri 
OVERALL ★★★★ 


Movie: 

Picture: 

Audio: 

Extras: 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 




















94 STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI 4K 




A new hope for AV? 


It's all change in a galaxy far, far away as Disney dips its 
toes into Dolby Vision HDR 


Star Wars: The Last Jedi 

The Force Awakens, with its familiar narrative beats 
and cast of returning favourites, was undoubtedly 
the ideal first movie for Disney as it sought to reignite 
fan passion in all things Star Wars. Follow-up flick 
The Last Jedi successfully takes the series into 
something of a new direction. As it surely had to. 

Plot-wise, the movie (written and directed by Rian 
‘Looper ’ Johnson), picks up where Force Awakens 
left off, with Rey (Daisy Ridley), meeting up with 
Jedi veteran Luke Skywalker at his remote island 
hideaway. Meanwhile, Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn 
(John Boyega) are embedded with the Resistance 
fleet as it flees from First Order ships and new series 
baddies Kylo Ren and General Snoke. Johnson’s 
script then balances the action between Rey’s Jedi 
training and the Resistance escape, before pulling 
plot-lines together for the expected climax. 

Actually, two climaxes. 

You’d have to have been living in a swamp on 
Dagobah to not know that The Last Jedi upset some 
Star Wars aficionados when it hit cinemas last 
December. The main gripes didn’t solely concern the 
overall narrative, however; also Johnson’s approach 
to the material. This is a flick unafraid to lay on 
moments of broad humour, and unafraid to take 
its characters and themes in unexpected directions. 
While The Force Awakens was built upon nostalgia, 
The Last Jedi jettisons a lot of the past. 

To be honest, we can’t see what all the fuss 
was about. Johnson and Disney have crafted a 
thoughtful, spectacle-laden blockbuster that drives 
the saga story forward, carefully homages the past 
(check out Rey and Kylo Ren’s Return of the Jedi- 
esque elevator ride) and fleshes out its trio of 
young leads. It also gives Mark Hamill, as Skywalker, 
a real chance to shine. 

Picture: Not content with making The Last Jedi 
the first Star Wars film on 4K Blu-ray, Disney has 
delivered it in Dolby Vision and HDR10 versions. 

Both look much better than the FID Blu-ray 
- although they're not quite consistent enough 
to qualify as reference-grade. 

For instance, while many close-up shots are 
markedly crisper and more detailed than on the 
FID Blu-ray, some largescale shots look little if any 
sharper - despite the transfer being derived from 
a native 4K digital intermediate. This inconsistency, 
together with some slight variance in the amount 
of grain in the image, is likely not helped by the film's 
special effects presumably not being rendered in 
native 4K. Or by the use during filming of a mixture 
of 35mm, 65mm and digital cameras. 

For most of the time, though, The Last Jedi on 4K 
Blu-ray gives you the most detailed look at the Star 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 







PLAYBACK 95 



Wars universe ever seen on a home entertainment 
platform. Even better, it does so with unprecedented 
dynamism and vibrancy. 

The use of high dynamic range and wide colour 
technologies isn't actually the most strident we've 
seen on a 4K platter, but it easily succeeds in making 
all those familiar Star Wars image highlights erupt 
off the screen like never before. Space battle 
explosions and laser fire ping from the blackness 
of space with eye-watering intensity, while lightsaber 
duels are given extra intensity from the injection of 
extra brightness and colour. 

This is all especially true if you can view The Last 
Jedi in its Dolby Vision guise, where the format's extra 
scene-by-scene image data boosts the dynamic 
range of the most contrast-rich scenes (especially 
the space battles); provides subtler toning in the 
most richly coloured scenes; and handles the 
brightest gleams of Captain Phasma's armour 
with noticeably more authority. 

Audio: Disney has gone ‘full Dolby' for its first 
Star Wars 4K Blu-ray, partnering its Dolby 
Vision visuals with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. 
Annoyingly, though, this soundtrack isn't 
quite as explosive as we'd have liked. 

It's mixed a little quietly, meaning 
you'll find yourself cranking your setup 
higher than normal to unlock its 
charms, and more noticeably 
doesn't use the format's height 
layer as much as expected from a 
film featuring huge 360-degree 
battles and sets. There are 
moments of thrilling, 
heavy bass, but these 
are few and far 
between. For the 
most part the 
dynamic 


range actually feels a little constrained 
when compared to, say, the bombast 
of this month's Justice League track. 

That said, surround channels are 
expertly used for both general ambience 
and precise location effects, cocooning 
you in the movie's environments, and 
it's a consistently lively and nuanced 
soundtrack. It's a pleasure, too, to hear 
John Williams' superb score cleanly 
and immersively mixed around your 
speaker array. 

Extras: This fan-dividing movie is 
accompanied by a great set of extra 
features. Rian Johnson delivers a 
worthwhile commentary track that 
benefits from him being the film's 
writer as well as director. There's also 
an outstanding 95-minute Making 
of... documentary (The Director 
and the Jedi) that follow's the film's 
gestation, development and filming 
in excellent, access-all-areas 
detail, plus a separate 10-minute 
exploration of Johnson's take 
on The Force'. 

Wrapping things up are 
in-depth looks (ranging from five 
to 15 minutes) at the making of 
three key scenes, a fabulous clip 
of Andy Serkis acting as General 
Snoke before being covered by 
special effects, and 15 deleted 
and extended scenes. 

Also note that the Digital 
Copy with this US version (but 
not the physical disc) includes 
the ability to view the movie in 
isolated score mode. 


HCC VERDICT 
Star Wars: The Last Jedi 


Walt Disney UHD Blu-ray & 
All-region BD £37 

W Disney's first Star Wars 4K 
release is a visual treat, and loaded 
with quality extras. 


★★★★ 
★★★★* 
OVERALL: 


Movie. 

Picture. 

Audio: 

Extras. 


> 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 





96 JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE/FAR CRY 5 


Arcade Action 


Bigscreen home entertainment isn't just about movies 
anymore. Rik Henderson checks out a videogame vying 
for time on your home cinema system... 



pushing the boundaries of the first-person-shooter genre. Far Cry 5 
does neither. It is, however, an excellent game and a stunningly 
beautiful one to boot. 

If you were a big fan of Far Cry 4 you will find much here that is 
familiar and, even, directly lifted from that previous title. But while 
this fifth instalment brings very few new tricks to the table, it gives 
players an enormous open-world environment to roam and 
hundreds of missions and side quests to undertake. It is a huge 
game and no mistake. 

This time the action has switched to the United States and a 
corner of Montana that is terrorised by a local religious cult: Project 
at Eden's Gate. This cult is run by a malevolent leader in Joseph 
Seed who, along with several family members, has kidnapped 
the local populace, taken their lands and rules with a cruel fist. 

It's therefore a far darker setup than Far Cry 4, although there 
are lighter tones in some of the side missions to brighten the mood 
at times. As with the last few Far Cry games (and most Ubisoft 
open-world games, full-stop) you must complete missions and 
take outposts to expose the map. You also need to take on specific 
boss battles and defeat each member of the Seed brood in order 
to get to Joseph himself. 

There's also the cornucopia of collectables and side tasks 
that mean little to the main narrative but extend your playtime 
dramatically. Indeed, should you decide to take on everything the 
game has to offer, you could well be playing for weeks on end. 

And that's no bad thing. 

Visually, Far Cry 5 is spectacular. The rendered landscapes of 
Montana are rich in detail and the use of HDR is perfect. The green 
grass is vivid, blue skies also, and corn fields are bursting with 
yellows and browns. Explosions and fire effects are even more 
brilliant in tone and a decent TV will make them sing. 

If you have an Xbox One X you get the biggest treat. The game 
runs at a full native 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160) and is incredibly 
crisp. The PS4 Pro maxes at 2,880 x 1,620, which is better than 
the standard PS4, but all versions still look great. You won't be 
disappointed no matter the format. 

★★★★★ 


Britannia: Season 1 

Sony Pictures Region B BD 
£36 

If you're the sort of person who 
prefers a more serious TV 
historical drama then you 
should steer clear of this recent 
Sky production. Set during the 
Roman invasion of Britain, the 
series serves up a heady mix of violence and mysticism that is 
more indebted to Game of Thrones than I, Claudius. However, 
if you buy in to the show's comic book-esque brand of lunacy 
then there's plenty to enjoy. Sharp, colourful 1.78:11080p visuals 
partnered with pleasingly dynamic DTS-HD MA 5.1 sonics help 
make it easy to savour on Blu-ray. 

★ ★★★★ 



Outlander: Season Three 

Sony Pictures All-region BD 
£45 

Following the same pattern as 
its second season, this latest run 
of 13 episodes is split between 
two arcs - the first focusing on 
reuniting time-displaced lovers 
Claire and Jamie, the second on 
sending them on a fresh adventure. This time around, though, 
it's a bit more unbalanced, stretching the former arc too far and 
not giving the latter arc the space it really needs: at least the 
chemistry between the leads is as strong as ever and helps 
paper over these issues. Also distracting your attention 
somewhat is the typically excellent AV performance and 
generous selection of extras this Blu-ray release rustles up. 



Amazon Women on the Moon 

101 Films-»Region B BD & R2 DVD 
£20 

Based around flicking between 
TV channels late at night, this 
1987 sketch movie may be a 
pretty inconsistent affair, but 
when the parodies hit their 
targets (as in Carl Gottlieb's 
Son of the Invisible Man, John Landis's Blacks Without Soul and 
Joe Dante's Bulls**t or Not?) the results are truly side-splitting. 
Despite Universal's iffy track record with DNR application on its 
back-catalogue HD masters, the one licensed to 101 Films for 
this release retains a film-like appearance throughout. Fun 
extras include a chat-track, two interviews and six cut skits. 



/ 

k 

k 

* 1 

lit* 

9 




_ A 


★ ★★★★ 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 








Playing games with nostalgia 


This enjoyable videogame-era franchise reboot delivers a flawless 1080p encode on Blu-ray 


Jumanji: Welcome to 
theJungle 

During detention, four high school teenagers - nerdy 
Spencer (Alex Wolff), self-centred Bethany (Madison 
Iseman), football jock 'Fridge' (Ser'Darius Blain) and 
loner Martha (Morgan Turner) - find a vintage video 
game console. Within moments of turning it on they 
are sucked into the Jumanji game world, appearing in 
the forms of the avatars they had chose to play as. 

Spencer is now the muscular explorer Dr. Smolder 
Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Bethany the 
cartographer Professor Sheldon 'Shelly' Oberon 
(Jack Black), 'Fridge' the diminutive zoologist 
Franklin 'Mouse' Finbar (Kevin Hart) and 
Martha the lethal Ruby Roundhouse (Karen 
Gillan). Only by completing the game and 
recovering the mystical Jaguar's Eye jewel 
from the evil Professor Van Pelt (Bobby 
Cannavale) can they hope to return to 
the real world. 

Cleverly updating the board game 
concept from the original 1995 Robin 
Williams film is only one of the many 
treats this canny sequel-reboot has in 
store for modern audiences. From the 
good-natured fun it has with its archetypal 
characters to the over-the-top action 
scenes, it captures the spirit of 1980s 
family films like The Goonies - albeit 
with a more self-reflexive sense of 
humour (and much less screaming). 


Add in some really great gags and enjoyable 
performances and it's easy to see why strong word- 
of-mouth propelled Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 
to become one of the biggest box office smashes of 
the past 12 months. A feat we have no doubt it will 
soon repeat with this home entertainment release... 
Picture: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle arrives on 
Blu-ray with a reference-quality AVC 2.40:l-framed 
1080p encode. Shot on location in Hawaii, the movie 
is bursting with vibrant colours, while the natural 
brightness only serves to show off the flawless 
definition and sharpness of the imagery. Black levels 
are also perfectly presented, ensuring that even 
darker locations such as the Bazaar and the tunnels 
under it (Chapters 7 and 8) are perfectly portrayed 
and never lose any clarity. 

Audio: From motorbike mayhem to rampaging 
rhinos, the disc's DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack 
is an extremely active affair. The soundscape 
frequently envelops with dynamic surround 
elements and meaty bass. As good as this 
is, however, we imagine the original Dolby 
Atmos incarnation would be even more 
immersive - but yet again Sony has 
decided to only make this available 
to buyers of its 4K disc. 

Extras: Apart from losing out on the 
Atmos mix, the other disappointing 
aspect of this Blu-ray is the collection 
of extras. All you get are a gag reel; five 
run-of-the-mill Making of... featurettes; 
and a spoof Jack Black music video. 






From geek to hunk at the push of a 
button - aren't videogames great? 



HCC VERDICT 

Jumanji: Welcome to 
the Jungle 


E Sony Pictures ^All-region BD 
£25 

J A sparkling hi-def outing for 
this fun film - although the lack of 
Atmos audio disappoints. 


★★★★ 
★★★★★ 
★★★★ 
icici 
OVERALL :★★★★ 


Movie: 

Picture. 

Audio: 

Extras: 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 







9fl EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY/THE AWFUL TRUTH 




Not as amazing as the original 

Feature film re-edit struggles to wow, despite some supposed AV enhancements 


Earth: One Amazing Day 

This 90-minute nature film from the BBC Earth team 
responsible for Planet Earth II plays very much like 
an Americanised excuse (it's narrated by Robert 
Redford and backed by a near-incessant easy- 
listening music track) for repurposing lots of footage 
from that acclaimed documentary series. 

Restructuring the material around a day in the life 
of our planet opens the door to some new insights, 
though, and watching beautiful scenery and wildlife 
in 4K HDR never grows old. Meanwhile, the relatively 
short running time and easier narrative makes it a lot 
more child-friendly than the original Beeb show. 
Picture: Curiously, we weren't as consistently blown 
away by Earth: One Amazing Day's 4K HDR picture 
quality as we were by that of Planet Earth II. 

Close-ups of animals still reveal far more fur and 
feather detail than you get on the 1080p Blu-ray, and 
HDR makes bright locations look more lifelike. But 
wider shots tend to look slightly soft/compressed, 
and the disc's HDR10 pass appears less controlled. 

This 4K Blu-ray is still the optimum way to watch 
the film, though. This is especially true if you can 
handle the disc's Dolby Vision pass, which delivers 
more refined colours in dark areas and, in doing so, 
slightly enhances the overall sense of detail. 

Audio: Earth: One Amazing Day on Ultra HD Blu-ray 
features a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, as opposed 
to the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mixes that accompanied 
Planet Earth II on the format, and it's great to 
hear this deliver some genuine height effects. 

For instance, during underwater sequences water 
laps above you as well as behind and to the side. 



Even better, the soundmix is precise enough to place 
specific animal noises at the right height and 
position in front of you. 

It also tries harder than Planet Earth II' s audio 
to use ambient and creature sounds to create a 
sense of living, breathing, three-dimensional spaces. 
Unfortunately, these sometimes feel rather forced 
- as do some obvious Foley-created effects. 

The score, meanwhile, is liberally mixed around 
the Atmos channels, but is overused and feels 
cloyingly dated. As a result, it's more likely to distract 
you than enhance your immersion. 

Extras: All of Earth: One Amazing Day's HD extras 
are also found on the 4K Blu-ray. They comprise a 
15-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, plus short 
vignettes about the filming of the Narwhal, fighting 
giraffe, White-Headed Langur, penguin and sloth 
sequences. Worth a watch, but there's nothing really 
substantial here. 




Is this the ultimate creature feature? 



Heimat: Limited 
Edition Boxset 

Second Sight -> Region B BD 
£80 

Subtitled 'A Chronicle of 
Germany', Edgar Reitz's 
15-hour TV drama 
follows the life of a 
family from a small 
German village between 1919 and 1982. 
Restored from the original negative and 
presented in its cinema version (which 
joins pairs of shorter episodes together 
to make feature-length instalments), 
Heimat looks sensational on Blu-ray; 
the 1.66:11080i encodes cope equally well 
with the series' black-and-white and 
colour visuals. A disc of extras includes a 
look at the restoration process and Reitz's 
'Hunsruch Villages...' documentary. 

★★★★★ 


The Awful Truth 

The Criterion Collection Region B BD 
£28 

The Criterion Collection 
V \ has recently become 

7 i something of a haven 

\ -^1 for fans of Cary Grant's 

screwball comedies. 
Directed by Leo McCarey, this 1938 film 
is another treat for fans, with Grant and 
co-star Irene Dunne on sparkling form 
as the warring husband and wife going 
through a divorce. While bonus features 
aren't all that extensive (just a pair of 
informative video essays, a 1978 audio 
interview with Dunne and a 1939 radio 
adaptation), the 4K restoration of the 
film itself is a joy to behold, revealing 
excellent stability, authentic black levels 
and well-resolved film grain. 

★★★★ 


Otley 

Indicator^ All-region BD 
£16 

This 1968 comic spy 
thriller from writing duo 
Ian Le Frenais and Dick 
Clement finds Tom 
Courtenay's feckless, 
couch-surfing layabout Gerald Arthur 
Otley somehow getting caught up in a 
conflict between two espionage agencies, 
both of which believe he knows far more 
than he's letting on. This off-kilter comedy 
comes to Blu-ray with an impressive 1.85:1 
encode that only really takes a turn for the 
worse during a sequence in a Tube station 
(and that is entirely down to the different 
film stock that was required). Once again 
Indicator offers up a terrific array of extras, 
including a chat-track and interviews. 

★★★★★ 


Breathless 

Second Sight -> Region B BD 
£20 

Jim McBride's 1983 
US remake of Jean-Luc 
Godard's French New 
Wave classic may not 
be held in the same sort 
of critical regard as the original, but taken 
on its own terms it's an enjoyable piece 
of pop cinema that is arguably a lot more 
fun to watch. Although the pleasingly 
colour-saturated 1.85:1 encode featured 
on this UK Blu-ray looks very reminiscent 
of the 2015 US release, Second Sight has 
improved on Shout! Factory's essentially 
barebones Region A platter by including 
an interview with actress Valerie Kaprisky 
and an impassioned defence of the film 
from critic Mark Kermode. 

★★★★★ 





HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 
























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Not doing its heroes justice 


After the highs of Wonder Woman, this team-up flick brings the DCEU crashing back to Earth 


-►Justice League 

In the wake of Superman's death, the alien warlord 
Steppenwolf spies an opportunity to attack our 
world. Realising they have no chance of stop him 
by themselves, Batman and Wonder Woman recruit 
a trio of new metahumans to help... 

When Wonder Woman hit the bigscreen last year 
it looked like the DC Extended Universe had taken 
a turn for the better. Sadly, any expectations that 
Justice League would continue this course correction 
are quickly dashed. What should be the pinnacle of 
DC's cinematic achievements to date instead comes 
across as a complete mess. 

The fact that credited director Zack Snyder left 
the film due to a family bereavement, only to be 
replaced by Joss Whedon (who rewrote chunks of 
the script and oversaw reshoots), means that it's 
not especially surprising that Justice League is tonally 
inconsistent. What is more of a shock is how 
half-finished the film looks. From the lacklustre VFX 
to the uneven performances, it feels like an edit suite 
salvage job that has been rush-released into cinemas 
before it was ready. Which is definitely not what you 
hope for from a blockbuster title with an apparent 
$300m budget. 

Picture: Justice League was shot on various media 
at multiple resolutions, with Warner Bros ultimately 
creating a 2K-resolution cinematic version. This is, 
presumably, the source of this 4K Blu-ray image. 

Sharpness and detail are sometimes so high, 
though, that it's hard to believe you're not looking at 




HCC VERDICT 


B Warner Bros.EllHD Blu-ray & 
All-region BD £35 

fflYet another cinematic 
misstep for DC's superheroes, but 
at least it looks pretty in 4K. 


★★ 

★★★★ 

★★★ 

OVERALL: ★★★ 


native 4K. The detail apparent in the heroes' suits, 
for instance, is little short of wondrous. 

The UHD BD also features aggressive use of HDR 
and expanded colour. Inky blacks nestle alongside 
extreme peak whites, suggesting this is another DC 
title that's been mastered to 4,000-nit peaks. 

Although the packaging doesn't mention it, Justice 
League flies onto 4K Blu-ray in both Dolby Vision and 
HDR10 iterations. Dolby Vision's baked-in dynamic 
metadata enhances the visuals with an expanded 
range and greater colour finesse. Yet the FIDR10 
version is also a sight for sore eyes. 

Only some obviously sub-4K visual effects 
take the shine of an impressive presentation. 

Audio: The film comes with a Dolby Atmos mix that 
serves up no shortage of effects flying around the 
soundstage, and has a low-end that packs a wallop 
worthy of Superman. But when it comes to the type 
of discrete height details that mark out the very best 
Atmos mixes, outside of a couple of sequences, 
Justice League simply appears unable (or unwilling) 
to deliver the goods. 

Still, it boasts much greater dynamic range than 
Thor: Ragnarok's soundtrack (see #284), so it has 
that in its favour. 

Extras: As you might expect, there's nothing in the 
extra features selection concerning Justice League's 
troubled production. Instead we get two deleted 
scenes relating to missing hero Superman; four 
scene breakdowns; and six featurettes investigating 
the characters, production design and comic book 
history of the League. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 














PLAYBACK 01 


The Beast from 
20,000 Fathoms: 
Premium Collection 

Warner Bros. -> All-region BD & R2 DVD 
£15 (HMV exclusive) 

An atomic test at the 
North Pole unleashes 
a prehistoric monster 
which quickly heads off 
to wreak havoc in New 
York City in this vintage creature-feature. 
The first of this month's double-header 
of dino-tastic Ray Harryhausen classics, 
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms crawls 
onto Blu-ray with a good-looking 1.37:1 
1080p encode that is only held back by 
the nature of the film's optical effects. 
While there are no new extras, we do get 
the handful of goodies that appeared on 
the film's old DVD release. 

★★★★★ 


The Buck stops right here... 

Kitsch sci-fi series makes for an enjoyable blast from the past on Blu-ray 




Damnation Alley 


Signal One 
£20 


Region BBD&R2 DVD 



Released in the same 
year as Star Wars by the 
same studio, this post- 
apocalyptic road-trip 
feels like the product of 
a completely different era in filmmaking. 
Closer in tone and style to a Bert I. Gordon 
B-movie (only none of them were ever 
this tedious), it's a string of missed 
opportunities. The fact that barely a 
single scene goes by without some sort 
of optical effect also ensures that it looks 
pretty rough on Blu-ray - although the 
DTS-HDMA6.1 mix does a fair job of 
replicating the original 'Sound360' 
soundtrack. Illuminating extras include 
two chat-tracks and three interviews. 



The Valley of Gwangi: 
Premium Collection 

Warner Bros. All-region BD & R2 DVD 
£15 (HMV exclusive) 

Cowboys and dinosaurs 
clash in this enjoyable 
genre mash-up that 
serves as yet another 
showcase for stop- 
motion effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen, 
and here his wonderful creations are 
joined on screen by an engaging cast who 
make the most of the film's King Kong- 
like story. Given that the Dynamation 
technique used to bring the creatures to 
life means they'll never look perfect, the 
2K scan that underpins this HD release 
holds up rather well (the dinosaur models 
have certainly never looked better). Bonus 
features, though, are disappointingly slim. 



Murder on the Orient 
Express [4K] 

Twentieth Century Fox-» UHD Blu-ray 
& All-region BD-» £30 

While this UHD Blu-ray 
release can do nothing 
about the narrative 
flaws in the recent 
all-star adaptation 
of the classic whodunnit, it certainly does 
wonders for the film's lavish production 
design. Shot on 65mm at 2.40:1 and 
finished on a 4K Dl, this UHD Blu-ray's 
2160p encode is nothing less than 
stunning, with the considered use of 
HDR grading adding an extra level of 
opulence. The upgrade to Dolby Atmos 
audio is another big plus point for the 
platter, bringing noticeable height and 
depth to the soundstage. 




★★★★★ 


★★★★★ 


Buck Rogers in the 
25th Century: 

The Complete Series 



In 1987 NASA launches the last of its deep-space 
probes, piloted by Captain William 'Buck' Rogers. 

A freak accident results in the ship being thrown 
off course and Buck being perfectly preserved in 
suspended animation, only to be found and awoken 
500 years later, when he returns to a world he barely 
recognises or understands. 

The second and best of producer Glen A. Larson's 
attempts to cash-in on the success of Star Wars on 
the smallscreen (the first being Battlestar Galactica), 
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is a blast of late 
1970s sci-fi fun packed full of disco design, skin-tight 
costumes, cute robots and an endless parade of 
guest stars (including Jack Palance, Jamie Lee Curtis 
and pretty much the entire rogues' gallery from the 
'60s Batman TV series). 

It's also surprisingly cheeky, never taking itself 
too seriously and serving up the largest number 
of double entendres outside of a Carry On... flick. 

Sadly, the second (and last) season's 
attempt to shake up the formula sees 
things take a something of a nosedive. 
Yet even then the show still has the 
flirty onscreen chemistry shared by 
leads Gil 
Gerrard (Buck) 
and Erin Gray 
(Colonel Wilma 
Deering) to fall 
back on. 



Picture: Despite being based on Universal's pre¬ 
existing broadcast HD masters, with no additional 
clean-up work undertaken for this release, Buck... 
looks surprisingly good on Blu-ray. Presented in their 
original 1.37:1 aspect ratios, the 1080p encodes are 
vibrant and detailed, with excellent contrast and 
black levels. The various optical effects shots knock 
it down a step, looking understandably softer and 
showing a less refined grain structure. 

Audio: The LPCM 2.0 stereo sounds as good as you 
could hope for. While there's really not much in the 
way of discrete L/R effects, the all-important 
dialogue and music elements are perfectly 
presented without any damage or distortion. 

Extras: The only extras on offer are the theatrical 
release version of original TV movie The Awakening 
(with its 'sexy' title credits sequence), plus alternate 
syndicated presentations of the two-part stories 
Flight of the War Witch and Journey to Oasis. 





HCC VERDICT 

Buck Rogers in the 25th 
Century: The Complete 
Series 


E Fabulous Films All-region BD 
£60 

E The show looks great in HD, 
but a few more extras would have 
been welcome. 


Movie: 

Picture: 


★★★★ 
★★★ 
ici 

OVERALL: ★★★ 


Audio: 

Extras: 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 



















Lara Croft was incredibly proud 
of 


Paramount dusts off a couple of Angelina Jolie action movies for a Dolby Vision upgrade 




HOC VERDICT 


Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - 
2-Movie Collection 


I Paramount UHD Blu-ray & 
All-region BD £50 

W couple of forgettable, 
if inoffensive, action movies given 
inconsistent 4K transfers. 


Movie: 

Picture. 

Audio: 

Extras: 


★★tH 

iciri 

ll: ★★★ 


Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 
- 2-Movie Collection 

Re-released on 4K Blu-ray to coincide with the recent 
resurrection of the Tomb Raider franchise, these two 
Angelina Jolie vehicles both fit equally well into the 
'better than your average game-based film but 
still rather forgettable 1 box. Neither is a giant of 
the action-adventure genre, and while Jolie has the 
onscreen charisma the character demands, the plots 
for both movies have all the finesse and intrigue of... 
well, something based on a computer game. 

Picture: For this 4K upgrade, Paramount delivers i 
HDR10 and Dolby Vision encodes of both titles. 

It's just a shame neither looks consistently 
brilliant in either iteration. 

2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is the 
most frustrating in this regard. Some shots 
(especially daylight exteriors and contrast- 
rich close-ups) are breathtakingly good, with 
scads of detail, while others are soft and 
slightly grubby. 

The cautious addition of HDR and wide 
colour to Simon West's original also leaves 
the imagery looking very natural; more so 
than Jan de Bont's 2003 sequel, which 
enjoys a slightly more aggressive HDR 
facelift. The baseline brightness level on 
the follow-up is comfortably higher, and 
peak highlights such as the reflections in 
Lara's eyes are more intense than pretty 
much anything in the first film's transfer. 



There's a far less grainy look to the sequel's 
imagery too, suggesting that we're viewing an 
upscale of the 2K digital intermediate it received 
on its cinematic release. This more consistent 'finish' 
is welcome - but there are also areas where the 
second movie's transfer is worse than the first. 

The image generally feels softer and there aren't 
any moments where this 4K presentation suddenly 
takes your breath away. Colours sometimes look 
a little forced, too - although the Dolby Vision 
version finds a better balance, while delivering 
more subtle light information in dark scenes. 

It's especially effective in injecting extra 
contrast during the film's climax. 

Audio: These 4K platters forgo remixed Dolby 
Atmos or DTS:X tracks in favour of DTS-HD 
Master Audio 5.1 efforts. Both are pretty 
decent, with a dynamic delivery, good 
levels of clarity and a fair amount of 
detail. Yet the first has a harshness to it, 
and neither give your subwoofer the sort 
of work-out you might expect with such 
action-oriented films. 

Extras: The only extras included on the 
two UHD discs are commentaries from 
the relevant directors. The remainder 
of the archival extras for Lara Croft: Tomb 
Raider can be found on the accompanying 
1080p platter, but those for sequel ...Cradie 
of Life are nowhere to be found - which 
may leave die-hard fans wanting to import 
the US version instead. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 










PLAYBACK 103 


The Avengers: 

Tunnel ofFear 

Studiocanal-»R2 DVD 
£18 

A lot has been written 
about lost episodes of 
Doctor Who, but there 
are plenty of other TV 
shows that only exist 
in an incomplete form. This DVD release 
of a rediscovered episode of The Avengers 
brings the tally of complete episodes 
from its first series up to three - and 
while Tunnel ofFear is hardly a lost classic, 
it offers a revealing look at the show's 
original incarnation and how removed it is 
from the version we know so well. As well 
as the 52-minute episode, the DVD also 
houses interviews, reconstructions and 
a 2016 audio adaptation of the story. 

★★★★★ 


JoJo's Bizarre 
Adventure: Season 1 

Manga Entertainment -* Region B BD 
£40 

This insanely popular 
anime series lives up to 
its name with a nutty 
multi-generational tale 
of the Joestar family 
and their fight against the vampiric forces 
unleashed by an ancient stone mask. This 
three-disc Blu-ray set collects the first two 
story arcs - Phantom Blood and Battle 
Tendency - across 26 episodes of crazy 
characters, violence and shouting (trust 
us: it's a lot more enjoyable than it 
sounds). The set's colourful 1.78:11080p 
encodes are partnered by raucous LPCM 
2.0 mixes - just do yourself a favour and 
steer clear of the terrible US dubs. 

★★★★★ 


Blood Harvest 

88 Films All-region BD 
£12 

Tiny Tim (of Tiptoe 
Through the Tulips 
fame) stars in this 
low-budget slasher 
curio from 1987. There's 
an odd atmosphere to Blood Harvest 
that makes it strangely compelling, 
despite the awful acting and clunky 
plotting. Heavily cut by the BBFC when 
originally released, this Blu-ray presents 
the film in its full gory glory via a 
gloriously grainy HD transfer of the 
director's 'original 16mm vault elements'. 
Extras include behind-the-scenes 
footage and a lengthy home movie 
of Tiny Tim performing with the Great 
American Circus in 1987. 

★★★ 


Slaughterhouse Rock 

88 Films -> Region BBD 
£12 

A young man drags 
his friends to Alcatraz 
after being tormented 
by nightmares linked 
to the prison island. 
There he teams up with the ghost of a 
rock star (played by Toni Basil) to stop 
the demon who has possessed his 
brother. As wonderfully daft as this 
sounds, Slaughterhouse Rock ends up 
less than the sum of its parts. However, 
if you're in the mood for a spot of dumb 
late '80s horror, then this Blu-ray's 1.78:1 
1080p encode does the best it can with 
the film's gloomy visuals, while the LPCM 
2.0 audio sounds rather good with the 
Devo-tastic soundtrack. 

★★★★★ 






A celebration of saints and sinners 

The BFI shines a light on the early films of Derek Jarman with this handsome new boxset 



Fans of avant-garde cinema will find it hard to resist 
this boxset collecting together the first six feature 
films by uncompromising British artist, filmmaker 
and activist Derek Jarman. 

Recounting the tale of St. Sebastian's martyrdom, 
Jarman's debut feature Sebastiane (1976) shocked 
audiences with its explicit homosexuality and 
violence. Joining it on the first platter is In the Shadow 
of the Sun (1981), a non-narrative tapestry of 
repurposed early '70s Super 8 home movies, 
all set to a soundtrack by Throbbing Gristle. 

The remaining four films each get a Blu-ray 
disc to themselves. Featuring a young Adam 
Ant and Toyah Wilcox, punk classic Jubilee 
(1978) finds Queen Elizabeth I and occultist 
John Dee visiting the shattered Britain of the 
1970s. Meanwhile, Shakespeare gets the punk 
treatment in Jarman's take on The Tempest (1979). 

The Angelic Conversation (1985) is another of his 
non-narrative visual collages, this time with Judi 
Dench reading Shakespearean sonnets over the top. 
Finally, Caravaggio (1986) features Nigel Terry, Dexter 
Fletcher, Sean Bean and Tilda Swinton in a (wilfully 
anachronistic) fictionalised re-telling of the life of 
the 16th Century painter. 

Picture: All six features have been newly scanned 
and restored in 2K from original film elements for this 
release - although the actual quality of the 1080p 
presentations varies significantly depending on the 
source materials. Shot on 35mm and framed at 
1.85:1, the real standout here is Caravaggio. 


Sebastiane, Jubilee and The Tempest also 
hold up very well, although their 16mm 
origins naturally result in a much coarser 
and more prevalent grain structure. Despite being 
sourced from 16mm and 35mm materials 
respectively, In the Shadow of the Sun and The 
Angelic Conversation are at the mercy of the 
distressed, lower-res source material. 

Audio: All the films in the set bar one are graced by 
modest LPCM mono soundtracks. The Angelic 
Conversation breaks from this with a surprisingly 
dynamic LPCM stereo track that serves as a fun 
counterpoint to the unusual visuals. 

Extras: The BFI has collected a fine array of features 
including new and archival interviews; a selection of 
short films; film-specific image galleries; trailers; 
and even a look at two unfilmed Jarman projects. 
Rounding out the package is an exclusive 80-page 
book of writing about the movies. 


Tarman: Volume One 

1972-1986 






HCC VERDICT 

Jarman: Volume One 
1972-1986 


E BFI Region B BD 
£70 

J The BFI celebrates a unique 
filmmaker in style with this packed 
boxset. Roll on Volume Two... 


Movie: 


Picture, 

Audio: 

Extras: 

★★tH 

★★★ 

★★★★★ 

11: 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 















104 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL/LEGEND OF THE MOUNTAIN 



Prolific director hits the big 100 

Miike Takashi shows no signs of slowing down with this slice of samurai cinema 


Blade of the Immortal 

When his sister is killed by a gang of 100 men seeking 
the bounty on his head, rogue samurai Manji (Kimura 
Takuya) slays them all, but is mortally wounded in 
the process. As he lies dying, Manji is visited by a 
mysterious old woman who infects him with 'blood 
worms' that repair his injuries - and in the process 
condemn him to everlasting life. Five decades later 
the reclusive Manji is tracked down by Rin (Sugisaki 
Hana), a young girl who seeks his help in killing the 
group of samurai who murdered her father. 

Touted as director Miike Takashi's 100th film (the 
actual number is very tricky to gauge), Blade of the 
Immortal finds him teaming up with producer Jeremy 
Thomas for a third samurai film - this time based on 
a popular manga series. It doesn't reach the same 
heights as 2010's sublime 13 Assassins, but is still 
a magnificent action movie. 

Book-ended by audacious fight scenes that pit its 
hero against hordes of enemies, the bulk of the film 
essentially boils down to a series of one-on-one 
scraps between Manji and increasingly grotesque 
foes. This episodic structure is its biggest failing, 
but has no doubt been inherited from the source 
material. Even so, the ensuing swordplay is 
exhilarating - and when the film draws all of its 
various threads together, it throws in an extra twist 
or two, making you reassess your opinions of key 
characters in unexpected ways. 

Sombre yet exciting, thoughtful yet action- 
packed, Blade of the Immortal is another triumph for 
one of Japan's most exciting filmmakers. Here's to 
his next 100... 



Picture: Blade of the Immortal hacks and slashes 
its way onto Blu-ray with a sharply-rendered 2.40:1 
1080p encode. Following the black-and-white 
opening sequence, it transitions to colour and fills 
the screen with richly-saturated primaries 
(particularly reds). Clarity is also excellent, revealing 
finely wrought environmental textures and intricate 
details in costume fabrics. 

Audio: A DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix serves up plenty of 
zippy effects during the big fights, but is otherwise 
a fairly front-heavy affair that prefers to use the 
surrounds for more subtle, ambient effects. 

Music and dialogue are both rendered flawlessly. 
Extras: An impressive array of extras from Arrow 
Video. There's an interview with the director; a 
commentary by critic Tom Mes; two featurettes 
about shooting the opening and closing fights; 
85-minutes of cast interviews; the trailer; a stills 
gallery; and a booklet of essays. 


Hard to believe this film comes from 
the director responsible for Visitor Q 



Legend of the Mountain 

Eureka! The Masters of Cinema Series 
Region B BD& R2 DVD £18 



A young scholar tasked with 
translating a Buddhist sutra 
finds himself the target for 
ghostly forces in King Hu's 1979 
supernatural masterpiece. 
Finally available to own in 
its original 192-minute cut, Legend of the Mountain has been 
newly restored in 4K from a first-generation interpositive for 
this Blu-ray release and the 2.40:1 Full HD encode offers a 
beautiful rendering of the films' atmospheric photography - 
although a frequent teal-bias results in some rather milky- 
looking blacks. Informative extras include two video essays 
about the movie and its director, plus a 32-page booklet. 


★ ★★★★ 



One-Armed 
Swordsman 

88Films- RegionBBD 
£15 

A landmark release in 
the history of Chinese 
cinema, the box office 
success of this 1969 
Shaw Brothers film 
ushered in a new, more violent and 
bloody style of wuxia swordplay movies. 
Despite issues revolving around colour 
registration and clarity (not all of which 
are source-related), the 2.35:l-framed 
1080p presentation offered up by this UK 
Blu-ray is watchable and on a par with 
FID incarnations of similar films of this 
vintage. A commentary by Bey Logan and 
a chat with genre buff David West make 
for worthwhile extras. 


★★★ 


The Final Master 

Cine Asia Region BBD 
£18 

The power struggle 
for control of the 
martial arts schools 
in the city of Tianjin 
during the 1930s is 
turned into something altogether more 
confusing in director Xu Haofeng's 
needlessly muddled period thriller. 

Still, as baffling as the film may get 
at times, its fight scenes are never less 
than gripping and will ensure you stick 
with it. This Blu-ray not only delivers a 
kick-ass 2.40:1 Full HD encode, but unlike 
the same label's earlier Wolf Warrior II 
Blu-ray (reviewed in HCC #283) it 
serves up a lossless (DTS-HD MA) 5.1 
Mandarin soundtrack. 

★★★★★ 



HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 





















(i t v HomE dNEnm 


Let's Get Technical... 



Wisdom P4i Wisdom L2 Cinema 

In-ceiling speakers. surround speakers- 
We have eight There are four in our 

in our Cinema Cinema showroom 

showroom. 



Datasat RA7300 power amplifier 



Lumagen RadiancePro UltraHD Video Processor 



Datasat RS20i audio processor 


During our days of operating Commercial Cinemas 
we desired to present films in the best way possible 
choosing the best 35mm/70mm projectors with top 
quality anamorphic and backing lenses. 

On the sound front we went with Dolby Stereo, together 
with surround speakers as all other formats had fallen 
out of favour. 

So today, again we seek to create the best cinema 
environment with the latest 'laser' 4K projection; top 
of the range sound speakers and processing. 

As before, we boost the surround system with better 
quality speakers, but advances in speaker technology 
take this to a whole new level. 

The result is magnificent, adding to the latest cinema 
releases with Directors embracing greater use of the 
surround facilities and now with 3D overhead sound 
included. 

To experience the magnificence of these new wonders 
ring us for an appointment. 



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as you have never heard it before. 


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4K Video Processor. Rendering and 
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For cinema and music sound. 
Simply the world's best sound 
No multiplex can compete. 


City Home Cinemas, 750 Sidcup Road, 
London SE9 3NS. Tel: 020 8860 9363 


(ITV IME (MEM 




Email: info@cityhomecinemas. co.uk 
www.cityhomecinemas.co.uk 




















106 


est Picture winners 

With the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water now available to import on 4K Blu-ray, Team HCC 
rounds up 20 other movies that have grabbed the top prize at the Academy Awards... 



Ben-Hur 

Charlton Heston stars in this 1959 
Biblical epic about a Jewish prince 
who is betrayed by a childhood 
friend and sent to work as a slave 
on a Roman galley, only to escape 
and return home with revenge on 
his mind. Culminating in a jaw- 
dropping chariot race, Ben-Hur 
is one of the grandest, most 
spectacular films ever made. 

Get it: The 'Ultimate Collector's 
Edition' released in the US in 2011 
partners the same all-region BD 
available in other territories with 
an art book and a reproduction of 
Heston's journal from the shoot. 


Midnight Cowboy 

The only film with an 'X' rating to 
ever win the Best Picture Oscar, 
1969's Midnight Cowboy tells the 
story of a naive wannabe cowboy 
(Jon Voight) who ends up turning 
tricks in New York City and the 
friendship he strikes up with an 
ailing con-man (Dustin Hoffman). 
A difficult but fascinating watch, 
and one of the key parts in the 
development of the New Wave 
cinema that would come to the 
fore in Hollywood in the 1970s. 

Get it: A new 4K restoration of the 
film makes its UK Blu-ray debut 
on May 28, courtesy of Criterion. 


The Bridge on the 
River Kwai 

Alec Guinness, William Holden 
and Jack Hawkins star in this 
1957 WWII drama about British 
prisoners of war forced to build 
a railway bridge across the river 
Kwai by their Japanese captors. 
What follows is a gripping clash 
of principles and discipline, 
realised by undisputed 
master of the bigscreen 
epic, David Lean. . 

i 

Get it: Sony's Ultra 
HD BD looks great 
and packs remixed 
Atmos audio. 


No Country for 
Old Men 

Having almost done it with Fargo 
in 1997, filmmaking siblings Joel 
and Ethan Coen finally nabbed 
the Best Picture award 11 years 
later with this nihilistic, noir-tinged 
neo-Western based on the novel 
of the same name by 
Cormac McCarthy. 

Get it: Disney's Region 
A-locked US Collector's 
Edition has the most 
extras, but if that's 
not an option then the 
UK disc still looks and 
sounds superb. 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 









PLAYBACK EXTRA 107 




Lawrence of 
Arabia 

The second film directed by David 
Lean to make this list, this sweeping 
1962 T.E. Lawrence biopic explores 
his experiences fighting a guerilla 
war in the Arabian Peninsula during 
WWI and the psychological toll 
it took on him. Beautifully directed 
by Lean and boasting a career- 
best performance from Peter 
O'Toole in the title role, Lawrence of 
Arabia is moviemaking at its most 
epic - and yet the film never loses 
sight of the humanity at the core 
of its story. 


Get it: Sourced from an 8K scan/ 
4K intermediate, Sony Pictures' 
50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray 
is undoubtedly the best version 
available right now (and can be 
yours for less than £10 these days). 
But can a 4K Blu-ray release be too 
far off? We hope not. 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


The Sting 

In 1973, four years after headlining 
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance 
Kid, Paul Newman and Robert 
Redford reunited with director 
George Roy Hill for this frothy con 
artist thriller, hoodwinking Robert 
Shaw's mob boss - and the 
audience - as they set about 
making off with $500,000. 

An intricate plot, evocative period 
setting and fabulous soundtrack 
(featuring Scott Joplin's rag-time 
classic The Entertainer) make it 
a pitch-perfect movie. 

Get it: Universal's Blu-ray, now 
available for under £10, offers 
a pleasing DTS-HD 5.1 mix and 
so-so image quality. 


Casablanca 

Arguably the greatest love story 
ever committed to the silver 
screen, Michael Curtiz's 1952 
masterpiece is one of those 
movies that you can put on at 
any time and get sucked into 
watching all the way through 
again. As the famous misquote 
goes, 'Play it again, Sam... 1 


Get it: The HMV-exclusive 
Premium Collection BD supports 
its stunning 4K restoration with 
countless bonus bits. If that's not 
extravagant enough, you could 
import the US 70th Anniversary 
Gift Set, which includes coasters 
and a faux-leather keepsake box. 


Get it: Based on a 4K restoration, 
the Criterion Collection Blu-ray 
is the definitive version. 


Titanic 

James Cameron's 1997 box office 
sensation retells the story of the 
sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic from 
the point of view of two young 
lovers from very different social 
backgrounds - Leonardo 
DiCaprio's penniless artist Jack 
and Kate Winslet's posh totty 
Rose. As ghastly as that sounds, 
Cameron comes good with his 
staging of the disaster itself, 
which pulls out all of the stops 
to immerse you in the chaos. 

Get it: Pick up Fox's four-disc 3D 
Collector's Edition for the chance 
to savour the film's surprisingly 
effective stereoscopic conversion, 
along with a boat-load of extras. 


It Happened 
One Night 

Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert 
star in this 1934 precursor to the 
screwball comedy from director 
Frank Capra. Colbert plays a spoilt 
socialite on the run from her 
disapproving father and Gable the 
out-of-work reporter who sees 
a juicy story in helping reunite her 
with her husband. Quick-witted 
and fast-moving, it was the first 
film to ever win the 'Big Five' 
Oscars (Picture, Director, Actor, 
Actress and Writing) - a feat 
matched by only two others. 




















108 




Wings 

From breathtaking aerial stunts to 
the romantic rivalry that forms the 
heart of its story, this 1927 silent film 
about two World War I flying aces 
- whose friendship is threatened by 
their love of the same woman - has 
something for everyone. Wings is 
also notable for being the first ever 
recipient of the Academy Award for 
Best Picture - and more recently 
director Rian Johnson referenced 
a famous dolly shot from the movie 
in the Canto Bight casino city scene 
in The Last Jed /. 


Get it: Some prints of the film were 
released into cinemas in 1927 with 
a synchronised soundtrack of music 
and sound effects. A DTS-HD HR 5.1 
recreation of that track, overseen 
by legendary sound designer Ben 
Burtt, is just one of the highlights 
of the film's superb Masters of 
Cinema Series UK Blu-ray. 


The Lord of 
the Rings: 

The Return of 
the King 

There's a sense that the Academy 
was rewarding Peter Jackson's 
entire Tolkien project when it 
celebrated this fantasy epic in 
2003 - it's not the best of the 
trilogy and is in need of a tighter 
edit. Still, this remains a prime 
slice of big-budget filmmaking. 

Get it: With the Extended Edition 
trilogy Blu-ray boxset now 
deleted, you may as well invest in 
the 30-disc Extended Hobbit/LotR 
megabox and set aside an entire 
weekend to digest it all. 


The Sound of 
Music 

With its unforgettable mixture 
of nuns and Nazis set to some of 
musical writing team Rogers and 
Hammerstein's very best work, 
it's no surprise that The Sound 
of Music is one of the best-loved 
Hollywood musicals of all time. 

Get it: Fans should hunt for a 
copy of the 'Limited Collector's 
Set' that hit the US back in 2010. 
On top of the same beautifully 
restored Blu-ray that is available 
on these shores, it adds the CD 
soundtrack, a reproduction 1965 
souvenir programme, a 100-page 
scrapbook and a 'My Favourite 
Things' music box. 


Platoon 

The most visceral part of Oliver 
Stone's Vietnam war trilogy, this 
1986 drama witnesses the horror 
and idiocy of the US ground war 
through the eyes of Chris (Charlie 
Sheen), a young grunt caught 
between rival factions in his 
platoon. Uncomfortably brutal 
at times, but Stone is on a mission 
here, and his impressive ensemble 
cast and rich imagery leave you 
in no doubt as to what it is. 


Get it: Platoon was given a 25th 
anniversary Blu-ray release in 
2011 - and the best news is that 
it ported over a wealth of extras 
(including Stone's commentary 
track) from previous DVD editions. 


The Apartment 

Billy Wilder's brilliant 1960 
dramedy sees low-level 
insurance clerk C.C. 'Bud' Baxter 
(Jack Lemmon) letting company 
executives use his apartment 
to carry out their extramarital 
affairs, in the hope it well net him 
a promotion. But things become 
tricky when Baxter falls for 
an elevator operator (Shirley 
MacLaine) who, unbeknownst to 
him, is one of his bosses' lovers... 

Get it: Released at the end of 
last year, Arrow Video's Limited 
Edition Blu-ray boasts a new 
restoration and a superb 
collection of extras. 


Have we left out one of your favourite Best Picture winners? 
Let us know: email letters@homecinemachoice.com 








PLAYBACK EXTRA 109 




The Godfather/ 

The Godfather Part II 

Crowned Best Picture in 1972 and 1974, this mafia 
crime duo is best watched as one lengthy, lavish 
masterpiece. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, John Cazale, 
James Caan and Robert De Niro deliver towering 
performances, but it's the script here that the's real 
winner, mixing complex plotlines across the decades 
with personal drama and moments of brutal violence. 

Get it: No 4K release yet (but it is available in UHD 
on digital platforms), so stick to the Blu-ray boxset. 


On the 
Waterfront 

Marlon Brando gave one of the 
most electrifying performances 
of his career in this powerful and 
uncompromising 1954 critique of 
union corruption set around the 
New York City docks. 


Gladiator 

Ridley Scott rebooted his career 
(and the historical epic genre) in 
2000 with this gripping, muscular 
drama. Russell Crowe excels as 
the Roman soldier-turned-slave 
with vengeance on his mind. 

Get it: Universal's 2009 BD 
debut for Gladiator was a 
travesty of obvious edge 
enhancement and digital 
smoothing, a situation rectified 
by a re-release a year later. 
Coming this April is an Ultra 
HD platter that hopefully 
won't open a whole new can 
of picture quality worms. 

MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


Get it: With its solid AV 
credentials, the Sony Pictures 
UK Blu-ray coulda been 
a contender, but falls short 
of the Region A-locked 
Criterion disc, which 
offers a choice of three 
aspect ratios and extra 
bonus features. 


Gone with the 
Wind 

Another cinematic 'epic' - this 
1939 Civil War era romance/drama 
runs for nearly four hours - and 
the highest-earning flick ever at 
the box office once inflation is 
taken into account. Everyone 
should watch it at least once. 


Get it: Warner created a new 
master from an 8K scan for a 70th 
Anniversary BD release in 2009 
- and this was used again for the 
current (2014) release. Heaps of 
extras on the two-disc UK BD, 
but you'll find even more on the 
four-disc US version. 


The French 
Connection 

William Friedkin gave the police 
thriller a shot of adrenaline with 
this relentless (and ultimately 
extremely influential) 1971 drama 
about tough-as-nails narcotics 
detectives, played by Gene 
Hackman and Roy Scheider, 
tracking a French drug smuggler 
on the mean streets of New York. 


Get it: It may have been approved 
by the director, but the revisionist 
look of Fox's initial Blu-ray was 
downright weird. A 'remastered' 
(ie: corrected) version was finally 
issued as a UK steelbook in 2014. 















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WWW.HOMECINEMACHOICE.COM 


SELECT 

-►Gear Guide TELEVISIONS From entry-level 40in LEDs to flagship 4K monsters 
BLU-RAY PLAYERS Which deck rules the roost? PROJECTORS It's time to blow up your video! 

AV RECEIVERS 5.1,7.1,11.2 - we've got all the options covered SPEAKERS Killer surround sound setups 
for all rooms and budgets PVRs Including super-slim Freeview boxes and Sky 0 AND MORE! 



MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 















GEAR GUIDE 


TOP 10 Televisions 



Sony KD-65ZD9** £3,000 ★★★★★ 

Sony finished 2016 on a high with this full-array LED Bravia 
(with advanced local dimming tech) that claims a 1,800-nit 
peak brightness and DV support. Cinematic, sublime pictures 
- the lOOin version [HCC #282] is even more impressive. hcc#267 


Sony KD-55A1 ->£2,800 ★★★★★ 

Another Sony set due a Dolby Vision upgrade, this 55in OLED 
dazzles with its image quality (including superb motion 
processing), hidden Acoustic Surface speaker technology 
and eye-catching styling. hcc#275 



LG OLED65E7 

■*£3,800 ★★★★★ 

3D playback is dropped, 
but the E7 offers welcome 
picture improvements 
over last year's E6, 
particularly brightness 
and near-black talents. 
Supports Dolby Vision. 
HCC #274 


Panasonic TX-55EZ952 

■*£ 2,000 ★★★★★ 

A 55in OLED TV with an 
effortlessly naturalistic 
performance, although not 
as bright as some rivals. 
Gorgeous, understated 
design and premium 
build quality. 

HCC #277 


Philips 55POS9002 

■*£ 2,000 ★★★★★ 

Philips' second-gen Android- 
powered OLED takes a more 
refined approach to its 
processing, focusing on 
balanced cinematic imagery. 
Ambilight, as usual, boosts 
your immersion. 

HCC #276 


Samsung UE49MU7000 

■*£750 ★★★★★ 

Not one of Samsung's 
top-flight TVs, but a cracking 
mid-range 49in model that 
presents 4K and HD material 
with bright, rich colours and 
stable blacks. Good choice 
for an affordable setup. 

HCC #277 



Samsung QE65Q9F 

£3,500 ★★★★★ 


Sony KD-55XE8596 

£900 ★★★★★ 


This premium 'QLED' screen 
outguns rivals when it comes 
to brightness and visual 
impact. Routinely stunning, 
but edge LED lighting has 
some niggles. Supports 
Samsung's HDR10+ format. 
HCC #273 


A real 4K bargain, combining 
a 55in screen with a solid 
picture performance. HDR 
doesn't zing due to a lack of 
sheer brightness, but it 
benefits from backlight 
stability. Impressive with 
regular HD, too. hcc#278 



Panasonic TX-65EX750 

-►£1,500 ★★★★★ 


A (surprise!) 3D-capable 
LED screen that offers 
well-controlled backlighting, 
pleasing 4K clarity and good 
HD upscaling. Not the 
brightest around, and some 
colour inconsistencies. 

HCC #279 



LG 55SJ850V 

-►£900 ★★★★★ 

Backlight distractions hinder 
this set's performance in 
low-lit rooms, but it's a 
strong all-rounder, offering 
Dolby Vision HDR, WebOS 
smarts, well-rounded sonics 
and a bargain price tag. 

HCC #276 



Blade Runner 2049 
[Ultra HD Blu-ray] 

A smart, evocative sequel that 
proves worth the wait, and 
blessed on Warner's US 4K 
platter with a pin-sharp image 
and spine-tingling Dolby Atmos 
soundmix. HCC #283 
★★★★★ 


Death of Stalin 

More superb political satire from 
Armando 'In The Loop' lannucci. 
Entertainment One's BD may 
be light on extras, but the chat- 
track is well worth a listen, and 
DTS-HD 5.1 audio works well with 
the source material. HCC #283 
★★★★★ 



Only the Brave 

Josh Brolin stars in this powerful 
drama about wildfire-fighters in 
the American southwest, which 
burns bright on BD courtesy of 
an excellent 1080p image and 
even more impressive DTS-HD 
MA5.1 track. HCC #284 
★★★★★ 



Paddington 2 [Ultra HD 
Blu-ray] 

A sequel that's better than its 
forebear (if you pardon the pun), 
Paddington 2 is sweet, funny and 
its 4K HDR presentation shows 
a clear improvement over its SDR 
counterpart. HCC #283 
★★★★★ 



Coco [Ultra HD Blu-ray] 

Pixar returns to form with this 
quirky tale of a boy trapped in 
the Land of the Dead. The Atmos 
track isn't a standout effort, but 
the 4K visuals on this US import 
are gorgeous, and there are some 
fun extras. HCC #284 
★★★★★ 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 
























































SELECT 


TOP 70 Blu-rays 



Oppo UDP-203 ->£650 ★★★★★ 

Oppo refreshes its player hardware with a superb universal 
design with Ultra HD playback (including Dolby Vision via 
firmware update). Packed with user adjustments and 
connectivity. No apps or Darbee processing, though. hcc#269 





Sony UBP-X800 

■*£270 ★★★★★ 

Sony embraces UHD Blu-ray 
with a full-width, sturdy 
design that'll also spin 
DVD-A and SACD platters. 

A great all-rounder, but no 
current Dolby Vision support 
or word on an update. 

HCC #274 



Panasonic DMP-UB900 

->£370 ★★★★★ 

The Ultra HD Blu-ray format 
got an inspiring debut in 
Panasonic's multi-talented 
deck that offers a sterling 
picture performance, 
4K-enabled VOD apps and 
analogue audio outs. No DV. 
HCC #259 



Oppo UDP-205-* £1,400 ★★★★★ 

This pricey, peerless UHD deck flaunts universal disc playback, 
asynchronous USB input, headphone amp and balanced stereo 
outs amongst its audiophile features. One for musos. 

HCC #274 



Cambridge Audio CXUHD 

£800 ★★★★★ 


Sony UBP-X700 

■*£250 ★★★★★ 



A compact player promised 
a DV update this Summer, 
the UBP-X700 has a 
nondescript design, no 
analogue outs and a stubby 
remote. But it plays great, 
and offers SACD support. 
HCC #284 


The lack of analogue outputs 
is a surprise considering CA's 
heritage, but this universal 
(and DV-capable) deck 
sounds sweet over its digital 
outs. As with Oppo's UDP- 
203, a MediaTek SoC is used. 
HCC #279 




Panasonic DMP-UB700 

-►£300 ★★★★★ 

Shorn of some of the 
audiophile niceties of 
the UB900 (including 
multichannel analogue 
outputs), but still a safe pair 
of hands with your 4K BDs. 
And at a bargain price. 

HCC #270 


Panasonic DMP-UB300 

-►£130 ★★★★★ 

Great 4K imagery from this 
bargain deck, but you might 
prefer to up your budget for 
the UB700 - no split HDMI, 
optical/coaxial or Wi-Fi 
connections here. Half-size 
design for an easy install. 
HCC #272 



Samsung UBD-K8500 

-►£180 ★★★★★ 

Debut Ultra HD Blu-ray player 
that finds fans courtesy of its 
sensible price point (now 
even lower), connected 
smarts and eye-catching 
visuals. Build quality is a 
little uninspiring. 

HCC #260 



Samsung UBD-M9500 

-►£230 ★★★★★ 

Second-gen 4K player that 
adds features (mobile BD 
streaming, 360-degree 
image support) but removes 
3D playback capability. As 
before, the chassis is curved. 
UHD discs look pin-sharp. 
HCC #275 



Fibre Optic Lighting 

CED!A MEMBER 


* Infinity - modular star ceiling panels for 
professional installers 

* Custom and off-the-shelf DIY fibre optic kits 

* Room accent lighting from a single light source 

* Comprehensive website with projects and ideas. 
Help and advice from our small team of fibre optic enthusiasts 

info@starscape.co.uk www.starscape.co.uk 01289 332900 













































GEAR GUIDE 


TOP 70 Projectors 



Sony VPL-VW760ES £15,000 ★★★★★ 

This premium beamer adds laser illumination to Sony's 4K 
SXRD projection technology, and the results are staggering. 
It's not super-bright, but images are detailed, vivid and 
supremely well-balanced. Worthy of flagship status, hcc #283 


JVC DLA-X5900 -*£4,000 ★★★★★ 

An outstanding performer at this price point. JVC's latest D-ILA 
model may lack native 4K silicon but its eShift 4K engine shows 
real improvement and HDR playback has been greatly boosted 
too. A compelling home cinema PJ. hcc #282 



Sony VPL-VW360ES 

■*£7,000 ★★★★★ 

In Sony's 4K range between 
the laser-based VW760ES 
and entry-level 260ES you'll 
find this accomplished 
beamer. Excellent imagery 
with both SDR and HDR. 
Motorised controls. 

HCC #284 



Epson EH-TW6700 

£1,300 ★★★★★ 

HDR and 4K scaling are 
off the menu, leaving this 
mid-range model to 
concentrate on cinematic 
HD images. Bright, crisp 
performance, plenty of 
tweaks, but no 12V trigger. 
HCC #271 



Optoma UHD60 

-* £2,400 ★★★★★ 

An assured Ultra HD debut 
from Optoma - the UHD60 
presents 4K Blu-rays with a 
pleasing contrast balance 
and lush detail. SDR-HDR 
conversion tool is best 
avoided, though. 

HCC #277 


Sony VPL-VW260ES 

-*£5,200 ★★★★★ 

Sony's base-level 4K PJ 
comes with a few strings 
attached (brightness and 
colour range are limited), 
but it's a tempter for anyone 
speccing a UHD theatre. 

HCC #280 



Optoma UHZ65 

-*£5,000 ★★★★★ 

The asking price here reflects 
Optoma's addition of laser 
illumination (yielding 
improved contrast and far 
greater 'lamp' life) to the 
DLP 4K and HDR playback 
talents of its stablemates. 
HCC #282 


Epson EH-TW7300 

-►£ 2,200 ★★★★★ 

Similar performance traits 
to its bigger EH-TW9300 
sibling, but with reductions in 
max brightness (and claimed 
contrast). 4K upscaler, rather 
than native, with HDR 
playback, hcc #269 



Acer VL7860 

£3,500 ★★★★★ 

Laser 4K DLP projector that 
misses out on the contrast 
performance of some 
models, but undercuts them 
in terms of pricing. Use the 
Silent mode for whisper- 
quiet operation. 

HCC #284 



BenQ W1050 

-►£500 ★★★★★ 

There are a few cut corners 
on this budget DLP 1080p 
model (no backlight on the 
remote, no lens shift, a 
meagre zoom), but overall 
movie performance is good 
for the money. 

HCC #283 



Award-winning home cinemas 

At Cyberhomes our home cinemas and smart home installations aren't just about the amazing 
4K picture and immersive Dolby Atmos® sound. We also implement the acoustic treatments, 
lighting control, seating, ISF calibration, the intuitive Savant Pro or Control4 control system, and 
so much more. 


For details visit www.cyberhomes.co.uk/hcc 




Cyberhomes 


CEDIA 

AWARDS 

2016 


WINNER 


Best Home Cinema 
over £100,000 


MEMBER 



Home cinema design and installation • Lighting control systems 
Multi-room audio and video • Home automation 

0333 344 3718 hello@cyberhomes.co.uk www.cyberhomes.co.uk 















































SELECT 


TOP 70 Speakers 



Monitor Audio Gold 300AV -> £7,150 ★★★★★ 

MA revamps its Gold Series and we pay serious attention. This 
big-ticket package excels across the frequency range, offers 
exquisite design and packs setup flexibility via the dipole/ 
monopole FX surrounds. hcc#251 


WharfedaleDX-2->£450 ★★★★★ 

The asking price of this 5.1 system will tell you it doesn't deliver 
the last word in surround sound fidelity, but Wharfedale's 
package is compact, well-made and faultlessly delivers on its 
home-cinema-on-a-budget promise. hcc#283 




KEF 0 Series 5.1.2 

£3300 ★★★★★ 

KEF's revamped Q Series 
now offers Atmos modules 
for an up-to-the-minute 
sonic experience. Big, bold¬ 
looking speakers. Robust, 
immersive audio. hcc#280 


ATC HTS7 5.1 

->£3,500 ★★★★★ 

Brit brand ATC rejigs the 
driver tech and neutral sound 
of its SCM range into a 
wall-mountable, flexible 
system perfect for discreet 
AV setups. HCC #275 


Monitor Audio Silver 500 5.1 

->£3,650 ★★★★★ 

The new Silver range offers 
a potent EQ-able sub, sweet 
design, dipole surrounds and 
largescale, nuanced sonics. 
Atmos upfiring models would 
be nice, though. hcc#282 


KEF R Series 7.1 

->£6,500 ★★★★★ 

A 7.1 set mixing dipolar and 
direct surrounds, this 
package takes its cues from 
KEF's Blade and offers 
faultless, largescale home 
cinema sonics. hcc#217 



Wharfedale Diamond 11 

HCP £800 ★★★★★ 
Bookshelf speakers and lOin 
sub combine in a system that 
offers mid-range and treble 
finesse and a healthy dollop 
of boisterous bass. Fun and 
affordable. hcc#279 



DALI Opticon 5.1 

->£3,200 ★★★★★ 

The Opticons employ driver 
designs from DALI's high- 
end models, and showcase 
a talent for involving music 
presentation and thrilling 
home cinema, hcc #260 



Q Acoustics 7000i 5.1 Slim 

£ 1,000 ★★★★★ 
Consistent tonality and detail 
retrieval are the standout 
elements here, joined by a 
cute, easy-to-accommodate 
design - particularly the 
7060S sub. HCC #284 



Focal Sib Evo Dolby Atmos 
5.1.2 ->£1,200 ★★★★★ 
Enjoyable-sounding and 
well-priced sub/sat system 
with Atmos upfirers in front 
L/R enclosures. Not the 
smallest 'satellite' speakers 
around, hcc #276 



Fibre Optic Lighting 

CEO!A MEMBER 


* Infinity - modular star ceiling panels for 
professional installers 

* Custom and off-the-shelf DIY fibre optic kits 

* Room accent lighting from a single light source 

* Comprehensive website with projects and ideas. 
Help and advice from our small team of fibre optic enthusiasts 

info@starscape.co.uk www.starscape.co.uk 01289 332900 














































116 GEAR GUIDE 


TOP 70 AV Receivers/AV Processors 



Denon AVR-X6400H *=>£2,100 ★★★★★ 

This receiver's 11 channels of power are joined by Atmos, DTS:X 
and integrated Auro-3D, plus HEOS multiroom integration, 
making it peerlessly flexible. Sound delivery is quick-footed 
and articulate. A superb one-box solution. hcc#280 


ArcamAVR850 ->£4,500 ★★★★★ 

High-end seven-channel AVR marrying Class G amplification 
and Atmos (and future DTS:X) support with talented Dirac 
Live Room EQ. 11-channel pre-outs for full-fat setups. 

HCC #257 



Anthem MRX1120 

->£4,000 ★★★★★ 

Combining Anthem's superb 
ARC room EQ system with 
11-channel amplification 
makes this an essential 
consideration for full-spec 
Atmos setups. Muscular, 
precise sound. But no 
networking skills. hcc#265 



Pioneer VSX-1131 

->£550 ★★★★★ 

Seven-channel model with 
Atmos and DTS:X support 
that features an overhauled 
remote control and Ul to 
improve usability. Bass-rich, 
energetic sound. 

HCC #265 



Marantz NR1608 

£600 ★★★★★ 

With a smoother sound 
signature than before and the 
addition of HEOS multiroom, 
Marantz's 7.1-channel 
slim-line AVR flies the flag 
for living-room friendly AV. 
Only one HDMI out, though. 
HCC #278 



Marantz SR7012 

£1,700 ★★★★★ 
Nine-channel design (with 
11.2 processing) for Atmos, 
DTS:X and Auro-3D 
configurations. Well- 
featured, and solid and 
sophisticated in use, but not 
an all-out action monster. 
HCC #282 



Sony STR-DN1080 

->£550 ★★★★★ 

Sony is back in the AVR game 
with a first Atmos model that 
adds worthy phantom rear 
speaker processing to its 5.1.2 
sonics. A few Ul niggles don't 
take much of the shine off 
an impressive budget buy. 
HCC #277 



Yamaha RX-A860 

->£900 ★★★★★ 

Only seven channels and 
hindered by only three HDCP 
2.2-enabled HDMI inputs, 
but beyond that this flexible 
MusicCast AVR proves 
a great listen, with plenty 
of DSP toys. 

HCC #270 



Marantz SR8012 

->£2,700 ★★★★★ 

Marantz joins the 11-channel 
arms race with an AVR that 
benefits from a beefed-up 
power stage. As with the 
Denon X6400H, format 
support includes Auro-3D. 
Sophisticated sonics. 

HCC #284 



Denon HEOS AVR 

£800 ★★★★★ 

Able to run wireless rears/ 
sub (using HEOS models) 
and sporting a display-free 
design, this is a five-channel 
AVR with a different 
approach. One for HEOS 
devotees only. 

HCC #276 


■n ki i±m i±m 



mother! The Downward 
Spiral 

Darren Aronofsky's off-beat 
psychological chiller isn't for 
everyone, but this doc provides 
fascinating insight into the 
film's conception, planning 
and 16mm capture. HCC #282 
★★★★★ 



Kingsman: Inside the 
Golden Circle 

A near two-hour doc, split into 
nine parts, is perhaps more 
than this hit-n-miss sequel 
deserves, but there's plenty 
of info and insight here into K2's 
production. HCC #283 
★★★★★ 



Thor Ragnarok: Director's 
Commentary 

Taika Waititi delivers an oddball, 
frequently hilarious chat track 
that fits this movie's anarchic 
nature well. A fine solo effort, 
albeit with an unexpected 
guest star... HCC #284 
★★★★★ 



Impressions: A Journey 
Behind the Scenes of 
Twin Peaks 


Twin Peaks fans can delve deep 
into the recent series' production 
with this 291-minute fly-on-the- 
wall Making of... doc that gets 
its own BD platter. HCC #281 
★★★★★ 



You Must Remember This: 
The Warner Bros. Story 

The 480i image isn't great, 
but this 289-minute film 
charting WB's rise to the top of 
Hollywood is a brilliant addition 
to the Casablanca: Premium 
Collection BD. HCC #284 
★★★★★ 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 











































SELECT 




SVS SB-2000 -*£600 ★★★★★ 

This follow up to the SB-1000 offers immense value for money. 
A mid-sized woofer that imbibes Blu-rays with quick, taut and 
potent LFE, it's a perfect introduction to what a truly good sub 
can accomplish. hcc#233 


JL Audio Fathom f212v2 

->£6,500 ★★★★★ 

A second outing for JL's 2 x 
12in monster, with an increase 
in power (3,600W) and room 
EQ improvements among the 
changes. Sounds as good as 
you'd imagine. hcc#261 


Bowers & Wilkins DB1D 

->£3,750 ★★★★★ 

This sequel to the DB1 moves 
EQ to an app and changes 
driver/amp design. Beautifully 
controlled performance with 
depth and detail. Gorgeous 
bodywork. hcc#277 



RELNo.25 ->£6,500 

REL celebrates its 25th anniversary in style with this 
15in/l,000W premium concoction that exhibits exhilarating 
speed and nuance down to serious depths. Big, but beautiful. 
HCC #271 



SVS SB16-Ultra 

->£2,500 ★★★★★ 

A 16in driver and 1,500W 
amp combine to give SVS's 
flagship sealed sub real 
appeal. Goes low but remains 
tight and fast. App-assisted 
EQ and operation. hcc#270 



RELT7i 

->£850 ★★★★★ 

Easy to house 8in sub (with 
lOin passive driver). Decent 
LF extension joined by 
superb speed. Wireless 
transmission via optional 
(£200) system. hcc#277 



SVS SB-4000 

£1,800 ★★★★★ 
Similar in operation and 
styling to the SB16-Ultra 
flagship, but smaller and 
more affordable. Superior 
DSP results in a real sense 
of control, hcc #284 



BK Electronics P12-300SB-DF 

->£475 ★★★★★ 

Bass heads can get 
outrageous value for 
money in the shape of BK's 
overperforming 12in sub. 

A front-firing model is also 
offered, hcc #247 




GoldenEar SuperSub X 

->£1,450 ★★★★★ 

Four drivers squeezed into 
a relatively compact design 
and given plenty of push from 
a 1.400W amp. Standout 
traits are impact and depth. 
HCC #272 


KEF KubelOb 

£600 ★★★★★ 

The middle option of KEF's 
new Kube range packs a lOin 
driver, 300W Class D amp 
and 56-bit DSP engine 
to maintain efficient low- 
frequency control. HCC #283 




Uncharted: Lost Legacy 

The Drake brothers are replaced 
by two new heroines in the latest 
instalment of Sony's PlayStation 
puzzler. The open-world element 
hides the relatively short nature 
of its story mode; HDR visuals 
are stunning. HCC #277 
★★★★★ 



Call of Duty: WWII 

Eschewing the more fantastical 
elements of recent COD entries 
and giving greater emphasis to 
tactics and staying alive, this 
is a reminder of why the FPS 
franchise is so well loved. 

Superb sound FX, too. HCC #282 
★★★★★ 



Monster Hunter: World 

This series breaks out of its 
Nintendo origins to offer PS4/ 
Xbox One owners varied, 
open-world gameplay, plus HDR 
and better-than-HD visuals that 
can be tailored to your desire. 
Monstrous fun. HCC #283 
★★★★★ 



Super Mario Odyssey 

Mario returns in this standout 
title for Nintendo's Switch 
console that endows its 
platforming fun with superior 
game mechanics, eye-popping 
visuals and a foot-tapping score. 
A genuine masterpiece. HCC #280 
★★★★★ 



Injustice 2 

Brilliant follow up to the 2013 
superhero beat-em 'up classic, 
letting you dole out a good 
kicking to the bad guys while 
playing as DC Comics legends. 
Advanced resolution via PS4, 
plus HDR. HCC #275 
★★★★★ 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 


























































118 GEAR GUIDE 


TOP 10 Accessories 



KEF R50 ->£600 ★★★★★ 

KEF's Dolby Atmos-enabled reflective modules are a smart 
choice to beef up a system. Using the company's Uni-Q point 
source drivers pays dividends, enabling full-range sonics that 
reach deep into your cinema room. First-rate build. hcc#252 



Yamaha WX-AD10 -► £150 kkkki 

Simple to use, unobtrusive add-on that brings MusicCast 
multiroom/hi-res streaming to legacy AV gear via 3.5mm/ 
phono. Not a bad price - only available in grey, unfortunately. 
HCC #274 



Amazon Echo Dot 

-►£50 ★★★★★ 

Less impressive as a 
standalone speaker than its 
larger sibling, but more 
affordable. Use its 3.5mm 
output and Bluetooth to pair 
with third-party kit. Fun Al 
experience. A real bargain. 
HCC #269 



Nvidia Shield Android TV 

-►£180 ★★★★★ 

The Android-based streamer/ 
gaming box gets a gentle 
revamp - same silicon, 
neater design, new features 
including future support for 
Google Assistant. Slick and 
easy to use. 

HCC #272 



Roku Streaming Stick+ 

-►£70 ★★★★★ 

If a simple life is your aim, 
this content-rich, 4K/ 
HDR-capable dongle from 
the streaming specialist 
is your friend. Idiot-proof 
interface and control. 
Good price. 

HCC #282 



Amazon Fire TV (2017) 

-►£70 ★★★★★ 

HDR playback has been 
added to Amazon's great- 
value media streamer, 
although the absence of an 
Ethernet port does niggle 
considering its 4K talents. 
Cluttered Ul. 

HCC #280 



Panasonic SC-GA10 

-►£230 ★★★★★ 

Panasonic partners with 
Google Assistant for its 
debut smart speaker, and 
doesn't forget to focus on 
sonic power as well as Al 
fun. Pricier than many rivals, 
but still appealing. 

HCC #284 



Apple TV 4K 


£180 (32GB) kkkkk 
With Apple's iTunes movie 
store offering 4K HDR (Dolby 
Vision) movies at the same 
price as Full HD downloads, 
this compact media player 
(irritating handset aside) is 
sure to tempt. 

HCC #284 



PSB Imagine XA 

-►£350 kkkkk 

These two-way Dolby 
Atmos-enabled upfiring 
speakers are fairly chunky, 
but work well at creating a 
height layer and the 
£350-per-pair ticket makes 
them an enticing option. 
HCC #264 





Xbox One X 

-►£450 ★★★★★ 

The most advanced games 
console on the planet dazzles 
with its native 4K HDR 
gaming chops, but the price 
tag is hefty and heavyweight 
users may wish it came with 
more than 1TB of storage. 

HCC #280 


H»i4d 





Blue Planet II 

A fine 4K companion to the 
BBC's previous Planet Earth 
II, this set delivers seven 
episodes of expertly edited and 
informative natural history, with 
crisp, colour-rich HDR visuals 
and immersive audio. HCC #283 
★★★★★ 



The Wonderful Worlds of 
Ray Harryhausen: Vol. Two 

A trio of vintage flicks in a 
sumptuous package from 
Indicator. Here it's Mysterious 
Island, Jason and The Argonauts 
and First Men in the Moon given 
the deluxe treatment. HCC #281 
★★★★★ 



Harry Potter: 8-Film 
Collection [Ultra HD] 

Revised audio mixes accompany 
each title in Warner's mega-hit 
franchise, and 4K visuals impress, 
not least the earlier flicks that 
buff up well. No Full HD discs 
included, nor extras. HCC #282 
★★★★★ 



Hammer Volume 2: 
Criminal Intent 

Indicator again raids Hammer's 
library to dig up four black-and- 
white crime thrillers from the 
late '50s/early '60s. Extras 
include an alternate cut of 1961's 
Cash on Demand. HCC #284 

kkkkk 



The Deuce: The Complete 
First Season 

David Simon (The Wire) is the 
brains behind this evocative porn 
industry drama set in 1970s New 
York. This boxset offers quality 
AV and a couple of informative 
chat tracks. HCC #284 
★★★★★ 


HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 















































SELECT 19 



Yamaha YSP-5600SW >£1,900 ★★★★★ 

With its 46 drivers (including upfirers) this premium 'bar 
delivers precisely-steered and immersive audio, even of the 
Atmos variety. Potent wireless sub and 4K-capable HDMI 
switching sweeten the high-end deal. hcc#254 


Canton DM55 ->£330 ★★★★★ 

Canton's smallest soundbase still delivers big sonic thrills. 
Twin woofers underpin clean and crisp mids and highs, and 
build quality is first-rate. Doddle to use. Bluetooth built-in. 
HCC #260 



Samsung HW-K950 

->£1,300 ★★★★★ 

Soundbar with additional 
wireless rears and Dolby 
Atmos support via four 
upfiring drivers. Impressively 
largescale performance, good 
connectivity. No native DTS 
support. 

HCC #263 



Samsung HW-MS750/ 
SWA-W700 

->£700/£600 ★★★★★ 
Upfiring drivers on this 
premium 'bar, but no Atmos 
decoding. Performance still 
dazzles, and the optional sub 
shows its merits with movie 
soundmixes. hcc#278 


m 



Sony HT-ST5000 

£1,500 ★★★★★ 
High-end Dolby Atmos- 
capable soundbar/sub. 
Upfirers elevate the 
soundstage (but don't 
wraparound). Sound quality 
overall is excellent, blending 
muscle and depth with 
musicality. hcc#275 



Q Acoustics M3 

£300 ★★★★★ 

A 4in x 6in woofer is tucked 
away in the M3's eye-catching 
angular chassis, ensuring this 
well-priced soundbar has a 
full-range performance. 
Simple to use. Bluetooth 
streaming. hcc#271 





DALI KubikOne 

£800 ★★★★★ 

The Danish speaker brand 
brings a slice of glamour to 
your setup with this stylish 
soundbar. No HDMI or digital 
decoding but it packs a tight, 
lively and nuanced sound. 
HCC #269 



JBL Bar Studio 

->£150 ★★★★★ 

No subwoofer here, just 
a fairly compact stereo 
'bar that offers a useful 
soundstage-widening 
'Surround' mode, HDMI ARC 
connectivity, and a decent 
performance for the price. 
HCC #284 



Q Acoustics M2 

->£300 ★★★★★ 

Easily accommodated in/on 
AV furniture, and packing 
HDMI ARC for a simple 
hookup, this BMR-driver/ 
built-in woofer soundbase 
impresses with its energetic 
delivery and price. hcc#279 



JBL Bar 5.1 

->£650 ★★★★★ 

Switchable been stereo and 
5.1 via battery-powered 
surround modules, this 
HDMI-toting package offers 
a cable-free multichannel 
solution. A lOin subwoofer 
underpins the soundfield. 
HCC #283 





Charley Varrick 

Walter Matthau stars in and Don 
Siegel directs this superior 1973 
bank robbery thriller, brought 
to UK Blu-ray by indie label 
Indicator. A great-looking Full FID 
transfer and excellent selection 
of extras. HCC #283 
★★★★★ 



The Apartment 

Plenty of effort has gone into 
restoring this Billy Wilder comedy 
- the result is a new BD transfer 
that looks wonderfully sharp, 
well-contrasted and clean, 
considering the film's 1960 
vintage. HCC #282 
★★★★★ 



Night of the Living Dead 

The Criterion Collection pleases 
fans of George A. Romero's genre¬ 
defining 1968 horror with a 
labour-of-love two-disc BD 
release. Image quality benefits 
from a consistent 4K restoration; 
extras are plentiful. HCC #283 
★★★★★ 



Suspiria: Limited Edition 

Dario Argento's 1977 classic 
receives a second UK Blu-ray, 
with a new 4K restoration 
making amends for the previous 
lacklustre effort from 2010. 
Plenty of worthwhile extras; 

5.1 DTS-HDMA audio. HCC #282 
★★★★★ 



Casablanca: Premium 
Collection 

A fresh transfer (from a 4K 
scan), lossless audio and 
some new extras make this 
double-disc BD release for the 
much-loved war-time romance 
an essential purchase. HCC #284 
★★★★★ 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 

















































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SELECT 


lroP5 PVRs 



Virgin Media TiVo, 
£subscription 

This triple-tuner PVR offers 
recording flexibility, useful 
features - you can undelete 
deleted shows! - and smart 
TiVo functionality. If you're in 
a cable area, consider it 
★★★★★ 



Sky 0, £subscription 

Sky's new top-tier product 
offering dazzles with its 
image-rich user interface, 
wireless multiroom skills and 
recording flexibility delivered by 
the PVR's 12 tuners. Now 
supports 4K content 
★★★★★ 



Humax FVP-5000T 

Revamped menus, faster 
operation and tweaks to its 
triple-tuner engine make this the 
most advanced Freeview Play 
PVR around - and it doubles 
admirably as a DLNA player/ 
media jukebox. 500GB/1TB/2TB 
★★★★★ 



Humax DTR-T4000, 
£subscription 

This YouView-based PVR is 
required to get BT Sport's new 
Ultra HD channel - available 
to those with BT fast fibre 
and a BT TV sub. Easy to use and 
with 1TB of storage 
★★★★★ 



EE TV Smart Box 
£subscription 

This quad-tuner 1TB PVR, from 
the mobile/broadband corp, 
offers innovative Replay 24-hour 
channel recording and great 
Smart device streaming. 

Needs more catch-up though 

★★★★★ 


TtOP ™ Headphones 



Sony MDR-HW700DS, 
£800 

Comfy cans supplied with 
an HDMI surround processor, 
enabling multichannel audio to 
be fed to a virtual 9.1-channel 
soundstage. The effect is superb 
- great for late-night listening 
★★★★★ 



Sony MDR-1000X, £360 

Superior noise-cancelling cans 
with hi-res audio support 
via Sony's LDAC wireless 
transmission tech. Slick, 
touch-sensitive operation and 
healthy battery life. Fulsome 
sound and comfy to wear 
★★★★★ 



IMore MK802,£150 

Ignore the bling-tastic blue or red 
finishes and focus on the assured 
sound performance from these 
well-priced closed-back cans. 
Features include wireless 
Bluetooth and app control (with 
burn-in mode). Great value 
★★★★★ 



Bowers & Wilkins PX, £330 

B&W adds noise-cancelling to 
the general spec of its previous 
P7 wireless cans, a welcome 
update for those seeking 
uninterrupted listening. Offers a 
neutral, balanced sound suited 
to both movies and music 
★★★★★ 



Audio Technica ATH-SR9, 
£400 

45mm drivers and Audio 
Technica's Midpoint Mount tech 
deliver wide, deep, spacious 
sonics. Memory foam padding 
aids listener comfort; 3m cable 
should suit most AV setups 
★★★★★ 


TOPS Wireless speakers 






KEFMuo, £300 

Portable Bluetooth speaker 
that's a cut above much of the 
competition. KEF's sonic 
knowhow results in a punchy, 
dynamic presentation that 
cherishes lossless rips. Excellent 
build quality 
★★★★★ 


Sony SRS-X11,£60 

An affordable palm-sized 
Bluetooth speaker with internal 
rechargeable battery, Sony's 
SRS-X11 is supremely portable 
and sounds decent for the 
money. A neat little gizmo. Get 
two and they can work in stereo 
★★★★★ 


o Acoustics BT3, £280 

Bluetooth stereo pair with 
optical input makes a good 
alternative to a soundbar 
(there's even a subwoofer 
pre-out) while remaining a dab 
hand at music. Neat and tidy 
design, good price 
★★★★★ 


HOME CINEMA 


Choice 


Simple Audio Listen, £400 

Desktop stereo speakers with 
Bluetooth support, these benefit 
from separate tweeter/m id bass 
units and a classy construction. 
Performance is well-balanced, 
and a subwoofer output is 
offered for extra bass 
★★★★★ 


Denon HEOS 5 HS2, £350 

The mid-range multiroom 
speaker gets a second-gen 
revamp, adding welcome 
hi-res audio playback and 
Bluetooth connectivity. 
Gorgeous looks, boisterous, 
room-filling sound 
★★★★★ 






-*In the next issue 

System selector AV setups for all budgets 
Building a boxset Tricks of the Blu-ray trade from 
the experts at the BFI 
Bye bye 3D? What does the future hold for 
stereoscopic home cinema? 




-> Reviews 

Yamaha RX-A3070 AV receiver Acoustic Energy 
100 Series 5.1 Hisense55inU74KTV Bluesound 
Pulse soundbar Affordable 4K projector grouptest 

PLUS News, software, opinion, comps and more 

CONTENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE - BUT ONLY FOR THE BETTER 


MAY 2018 HOME CINEMA CHOICE 



























AV Avenger 

Steve May applauds the cinema owners who are using clever technology to ward 
off mobile phone users. Now he's wondering if he should move to France 


THESE DAYS, I generally try and avoid going to 
the cinema. For one thing it’s too stressful. Any 
excitement I feel at the prospect of catching a new 
movie (and generally I’m always excited) is mitigated 
by the thought of having my theatrical experience 
ruined by less-than-respectful cinema goers who are 
quite happy to chat, eat, laugh inappropriately and 
consult their smartphones as regularly as if they were 
outside the local pub. 

Sometimes I can enjoy a bigscreen visit - 
mid-week in the afternoon when screens become 
delightfully empty - but for the most part I prefer 
to watch films in my own home cinema. At least here, 
family members respect the code. Mobile phone use 
warrants a hard stare, and a possible punishment 
Pause. I can also watch until the last credits have 
rolled, and not be taken out of the moment by 
dullards bolting for the exit as if their lives depended 
on it at the first sign that the film is finishing. 

Another compelling reason to give theatres 
a miss is the often shoddy quality of presentation. 
From omnipresent house lights, to cleaning staff 
who’ll barrel in before the presentation is over, I 
frequently leave irritated rather than inspired. 

I do actually see a large number of movies in 
real cinemas, but more often than not it’s at a media 
screening in a well-equipped preview theatre, or 
(if I’m really lucky) a special event at Dolby’s joyously 
specc'd London PIQ. This means I enjoy all the 
benefits of a theatrical viewing, without any of the 
pitfalls (apart from when a fellow scribe takes out 
a pen and paper to make notes). I am aware that this 
isn't an option open to everyone. 

We're jammin* 

Perhaps there's good news for cinema-goers from 
across the Channel. In Paris, some multiplexes have 


installed smartphone signal blockers to combat the 
disruption caused by punters unable to resist the lure 
of Instagram for more than three minutes at a time. 

Such jammers work by emitting a signal in the 
same frequency band that mobile phones use. 
There’s naturally been speculation that turning 
theatres into an electromagnetic chamber is in some 
way unhealthy, but if it stops an oik texting next to 
me I’m all for it. 

I reckon this policy should be 
mandatory everywhere. Annoying, then, 
that it’s actually illegal to use jammers in cinemas 
and theatres in many countries. When the owners 
of the Savoy picture house in Dublin installed 
a mobile phone blocker back in 2003, they were 
threatened with a hefty €25,000 fine and even 
the prospect of jail by Ireland's communications 
regulator. In fact, the Savoy’s initiative was prescient, 
recognising the scourge of smartphones before they 
even really took hold. 

Communications watchdog Ofcom mandates 
that mobile phone jammers cannot be used legally in 
Britain. Its unhelpful suggestion is that people should 
instead be educated to keep their mobiles switched 
off instead. I’m not sure of the last time anyone from 
Ofcom went to their local multiplex, but educating 
the audience seems wistful at best. 

France, however, likes to treat movies with 
almost religious respect. Vive la France! 

Elsewhere, there have even been reports of 
phone-weary consumers taking matters into their 
own hands by using a portable jammer bought 
cheaply online. This, I suppose, is one solution. 
Another is to just stay at home and stock up 
on Pringles ■ 

Does your home cinema have any 'house rules'? 

Let us know: email letters@homecinemachoice.com 


Steve May 

4 

has now built a 


dungeon under his 

Jr 

home cinema, 
where he can throw 
anyone who reveals 

< ' 

spoilers halfway 


through a movie 

Jk. - : 



HOME CINEMA CHOICE MAY 2018 


ILLUSTRATION: BY TEKURA MAEVA 




















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